A Composited Povidone-Iodine Silk Fibroin Hydrogel for Wound Infection

Abstract

Wound infections have historically been an important global health concern which seriously affects human life and health. Reducing the number of bacteria at the site of the wound is essential to prevent wound infection and promote wound healing. Povidone-iodine (PVP-I) is widely used as an antiseptic providing useful properties for local anti-infective treatment in skin, mucous membranes, and wounds. In this study, we synthesized a new PVP-I/silk fibroin (SF) hydrogel through a simple preparation method, and to study the physicochemical properties, antibacterial properties and biocompatibility of the composited hydrogel. Compared with the pure SF hydrogel, the composition of PVP-I with SF hydrogels endowed the hydrogel new physicochemical characteristics especially enhanced hydrogel's structural stability and a sustained-release effect of iodine. Moreover, such composited hydrogels showed better antibacterial properties when the content of the compound PVP-I reached a certain degree. In vivo, the results indicate that the composited hydrogel displayed a good histocompatibility and biodegradability. All these results demonstrated that the composited povidone-iodine silk hydrogel can be fabricated as an anti-infective biomaterials with great potential using in wound infection.