In wound care management, the prevention of wound infection and the retention of an appropriate level of moisture are two major challenges. Therefore, designing an excellent antibacterial hydrogel with a suitable water-adsorbing capacity is very important to improve the development of wound dressings. In this paper, a novel silver nanoparticles/poly (gamma-glutamic acid) (γ-PGA) composite dressing was prepared for biomedical applications. The promoted wound-healing ability of the hydrogels were systematically evaluated with the aim of attaining a novel and effective wound dressing. A diffusion study showed that hydrogels can continuously release antibacterial factors (Ag). Hydrogels contain a high percentage of water, providing an ideal moist environment for tissue regeneration, while also preventing contraction of the wound. Moreover, an in vivo, wound-healing model evaluation of artificial wounds in mice indicated that silver/γ-PGA hydrogels could significantly promote wound healing. Histological examination revealed that hydrogels can successfully help to reconstruct intact epidermis and collagen deposition during 14 days of impaired wound healing. Overall, this research could shed new light on the design of antibacterial silver/γ-PGA hydrogels with potential applications in wound dressing.

Abstract:In this paper, poly γ-glutamic acid/ε-polylysine (γ-PGA/ε-PL) hydrogels were successful prepared. The γ-PGA/ε-PL hydrogels could be used to remove Na + , Ca 2+ , and Cr 3+ from aqueous solution and were characterized by scanning electron microscopy. The performance of hydrogels were estimated under different ionic concentration, temperature, and pH. The results showed that the ionic concentration and the pH significantly influenced the swelling capacity of γ-PGA/ε-PL hydrogels. The swelling capacities of γ-PGA/ε-PL hydrogels were decreased with the increase of the ionic concentration. However, the swelling capacity of the γ-PGA/ε-PL hydrogel was increased with the increase of the pH. The swelling kinetics indicated that γ-PGA/ε-PL hydrogels presented a more limited swelling degree in metal ion solutions with higher ionic valence numbers than in ion solutions with lower ionic valence numbers. However, the swelling kinetics of γ-PGA/ε-PL hydrogels showed that they proposed a satisfactory description in NaCl and CaCl 2 solutions. The adsorption process was fitted with a pseudo-second-order rate equation model. Moreover, the desorption kinetics of γ-PGA/ε-PL hydrogels showed that they could release most of the adsorption ions. Considering the biocompatibility, biodegradability, and ionic-sensitive properties, we propose that these γ-PGA/ε-PL hydrogels have high potential to be used in environmental protection, medical treatment, and other related fields.

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