Abstract
Due to their biodegradability and biocompatibility, chitosan-based hydrogels have great potential in regenerative medicine, with applications such as bacteriostasis, hemostasis, and wound healing. However, toxicity and high cost are problems that must be solved for chitosan-based hydrogel crosslinking agents such as formaldehyde, glutaraldehyde, and genipin. Therefore, we developed a biocompatible yet cost-effective chitosan-based hydrogel system as a candidate biomaterial to prevent infection during wound healing. The hydrogel was fabricated by crosslinking chitosan with dialdehyde chitosan (CTS–CHO) via dynamic Schiff-base reactions, resulting in a self-healable and injectable system. The rheological properties, degradation profile, and self-healable properties of the chitosan-based hydrogel were evaluated. The excellent antibacterial activity of the hydrogel was validated by a spread plate experiment. The use of Live/Dead assay on HEK 293 cells showed that the hydrogel exhibited excellent biocompatibility. The results demonstrate that the newly designed chitosan-based hydrogel is an excellent antibacterial wound dressing candidate with good biocompatibility.
Highlights
Wound healing is a physiological process that includes homeostasis, inflammation, proliferation, and tissue remodeling stages [1,2]
An injectable, chitosan-based, self-healable hydrogel system was fabricated with CTS and dialdehyde chitosan (CTS–CHO) via dynamic Schiff-base reaction for antibacterial applications
The structures of CTS and chitosan with dialdehyde chitosan (CTS–CHO) were detected by FT-IR to confirm that the aldehyde groups were introduced into the structure of chitosan
Summary
Wound healing is a physiological process that includes homeostasis, inflammation, proliferation, and tissue remodeling stages [1,2]. Wound infection can trigger the body’s immune response, lead to inflammation and tissue damage, and slow down the body’s healing process [3]. Wound infection may cause complications and require medical intervention [4]. The most serious local complication of infected wounds is related to wound healing, which can result in wound healing failure. Wound infection is costly in terms of delayed healing and adverse effects on patient quality of life [5]
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