Development of plasma functionalized polypropylene wound dressing for betaine hydrochloride controlled drug delivery on diabetic wounds

Leila Zahedi,Hamed Mahdikia,Majid Abdouss,Fatemeh Zare,Pedram Ghourchi Beigi,Babak Shokri,Mohammad-Amin Abdollahifar,Mojtaba Shafiee

doi:10.1038/s41598-021-89105-7

Abstract

Diabetes Mellitus is one of the most worrying issues among illnesses, and its chronic subsequences almost refer to inflammations and infections. The loading and local release of antioxidants to wounds may decrease inflammations. However, the low wettability of PolyPropylene (PP) restricts the drug from loading. So, to increase the adhesion of PP for loading an optimum amount of Betaine Hydrochloride (BET), plasma has been applied in two steps of functionalization and polymerization, which has been confirmed with FE-SEM, ATR-FTIR, and EDX. The new chemistry of the surface led to almost 80% of BET loaded. The drug-releasing ratio studied by HPLC approved the presence of a PEG-like layer, which was coated by polymerization of tetraglyme. To evaluate the wound healing potential of the application of PP meshes treated by plasma, 72 Wistar rats were subdivided into four groups. The skin injury site was removed and underwent biomechanical tests, stereological analysis, and RNA extraction. The results showed a significant improvement in the polymerized scaffold containing BET for skin injury. The present study suggests that the use of a modified PP mesh can induce tissue regeneration and accelerate wound healing at the skin injury site.

Highlights

Diabetes Mellitus is one of the most worrying issues among illnesses, and its chronic subsequences almost refer to inflammations and infections
One stage of this process is the demolition of the extracellular matrix (ECM) which does not lead to healing of chronic wounds like d iabetics[5]
Betaine Hydrochloride (BET) has chlorine atoms (Cl) in its structure which is shown in both Fig. 2a,b

Summary

Introduction

Diabetes Mellitus is one of the most worrying issues among illnesses, and its chronic subsequences almost refer to inflammations and infections. The process of normal wound treatment is the result of the balance between synthesis and tissue damage One stage of this process is the demolition of the extracellular matrix (ECM) which does not lead to healing of chronic wounds like d iabetics[5]. Vulnerable implants for stable and controlled delivery of drugs are the scaffolds through which skin tissue engineering overcomes the limitations of several processes of wound improvements such as autografts, allografts, and xenografts[22]. Polymers are new drug transmitters, Polypropylene (PP) meshes have been used in medical practice specializing in different surgeries since long years ago[10]. The response that the host soft tissue gives is different and depends on various factors such as chronic inflammation and the tissue connected to the condensed fiber[24] This polymer despite its advantages has its own disadvantages. To improve the surface of the polymer, plasma processes were used as a set of operations that could be both economical and safe[10]

Results

Discussion

Conclusion