Abstract
Chitosan, a polysaccharide derived from chitin, has excellent wound healing properties, including intrinsic antimicrobial and hemostatic activities. This study investigated the effectiveness of chitosan dressing and compared it with that of regular gauze dressing in controlling clinically surgical bleeding wounds and profiled the community structure of the microbiota affected by these treatments. The dressings were evaluated based on biocompatibility, blood coagulation factors in rat, as well as antimicrobial and procoagulant activities, and the microbial phylogenetic profile in patients with abdominal surgical wounds. The chitosan dressing exhibited a uniformly fibrous morphology with a large surface area and good biocompatibility. Compared to regular gauze dressing, the chitosan dressing accelerated platelet aggregation, indicated by the lower ratio of prothrombin time and activated partial thromboplastin time, and had outstanding blood absorption ability. Adenosine triphosphate assay results revealed that the chitosan dressing inhibited bacterial growth up to 8 d post-surgery. Moreover, 16S rRNA-based sequencing revealed that the chitosan dressing effectively protected the wound from microbial infection and promoted the growth of probiotic microbes, thereby improving skin immunity and promoting wound healing. Our findings suggest that chitosan dressing is an effective antimicrobial and procoagulant and promotes wound repair by providing a suitable environment for beneficial microbiota.
Highlights
We aimed to investigate the effectiveness of chitosan dressing in controlling bleeding wounds, compared with that of regular gauze, as well as to profile the community structure of the microbiota affected by these treatments
The structural characteristics of chitosan dressing used in this study were examined using Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy
We assessed the biocompatibility of the chitosan dressing by evaluating the cytolysis of WS1 fibroblasts incubated with the dressing for 24 and 48 h
Summary
Amongst a wide range of biomaterials, natural polymers, such as chitosan, collagen, alginate, silk, cellulose, hyaluronic acid, and some polynucleotides, are potential candidates for tissue engineering due to their excellent biocompatibility and extracellular matrix (ECM)-mimicking characteristics [3,4]. Chitosan is a linear polysaccharide derived from the partial deacetylation of chitin, which is the second most abundant natural polymer consisting of 2-acetamido-2-deoxyβ-D-glucose that confers a pH-dependent positive charge to the polymer [5]. The high positive charge on chitosan can stimulate erythrocyte adhesion, fibrinogen adsorption, and platelet activation, rendering it an excellent hemostatic agent [6]. Chitosan is permeable to oxygen, promotes immunity, and exhibits characteristics of high biocompatibility and biodegradability, non-antigenicity, low toxicity, and antimicrobial efficacy, indicating its potential in tissue engineering and biomedical applications [7,8,9]
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