A Facilely Prepared Adhesive Dressing Derived from Non-Ionic Hydrogel for Accelerated Diabetic Wound Healing

Abstract

Hydrogels are an important category of polymeric materials with physicochemical features such as moisturizability and biocompatibility that are ideal for developing dressings for diabetic wounds. However, conventional non-ionic hydrogel materials generally exhibit poor mechanical properties and poor adhesion, which compromise their ability to self-sustain in mechanically dynamic wound microenvironments. In this research, we developed a hybrid hydrogel as a highly biocompatible adhesive wound dressing that met the mechanical requirements of the skin to promote chronic wound healing in diabetic mouse models. A 7.5% (w/v) hydrogel corresponded to a Young’s modulus of 6.3 kPa. In vitro cell-based and subcutaneous implantation experiments in mice demonstrated the excellent biocompatibility and optimal biodegradability of hydrogel dressings. In a diabetic mouse splint wound model for evaluating wound healing in vivo, the hydrogel dressing showed robust adhesion to the wound and efficiently accommodated mechanical deformations around the wound, resulting in significantly improved healing rates of chronic diabetic wounds. Thus, our work illustrates a newly alternative strategy for the simple and efficacious treatment of chronic wounds in the context of diabetes care.