AUTHOR=Zhang Xi , Li Wanxin , Wei Genying , Yan Yuling , He Ruitao , Wang Yan , Chen Daoyuan , Qin Xiaofei 

TITLE=A rapid-crosslinking antimicrobial hydrogel with enhanced antibacterial capabilities for improving wound healing

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Physiology

VOLUME=14

YEAR=2023

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/physiology/articles/10.3389/fphys.2023.1206211

DOI=10.3389/fphys.2023.1206211

ISSN=1664-042X

ABSTRACT=<p>One of the main reasons impeding wound healing is wound infection caused by bacterial colonization with a continuous stage of inflammation. Traditional wound treatments like gauze are being replaced by tissue adhesives with strong wet tissue adhesion and biocompatibility. Herein, a fast-crosslinking hydrogel is developed to achieve both strong antimicrobial properties and excellent biocompatibility. In this study, a simple and non-toxic composite hydrogel was prepared by the Schiff base reaction between the aldehyde group of 2,3,4-trihydroxybenzaldehyde (TBA) and the amino group of <italic>ε</italic>-Poly-<sub><italic>L</italic></sub>-lysine (EPL). Subsequently, a succession of experiments toward this new hydrogel including structure characterization, antimicrobial properties, cell experiment and wound healing were applied. The results of the experiments show that the EPL-TBA hydrogel not only exhibited excellent contact-active antimicrobial activities against Gram-negative bacteria <italic>Escherichia coli</italic> (<italic>E. coil</italic>) and Gram-positive Bacteria <italic>Staphylococcus aureus</italic> (<italic>S. aureus</italic>), but also inhibited the biofilm formation. More importantly, the EPL-TBA hydrogel promoted the wound healing with low cytotoxicity <italic>in vivo</italic>. These findings indicate that the EPL-TBA hydrogel has a promising use as a wound dressing in the bacterial infection prevention and wounds healing acceleration.</p>