Development of Tannin-bridged Cerium Oxide Microcubes-chitosan Cryogel as a Multifunctional Wound Dressing

Abstract

Background: Efficient resolution of oxidative stress, inflammation and bacterial infections are crucial for wound healing. To surmount these problems, tannic acid (TA)-bridged CeO2 microcubes and chitosan (CS) (CS-TA@CeO2) cryogel was fabricated through hydrogen bonding interactions as a multifunctional wound dressing. Results: The physicochemical characterizations confirmed the successful introduction and uniform incorporation of TA@CeO2 microcubes into CS network. Thus-obtained CS-TA@CeO2 cryogels displayed suitable porous structure and swelling ratio. The CS-TA@CeO2 cryogels exhibited favorable antioxidant ability evidenced by scavenging more than 82.9% ROS in vitro and significantly increasing the antioxidant enzyme levels in vivo. The anti-inflammatory ability of the cryogels was confirmed by the downregulated expression of the inflammatory cytokine, tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) and the upregulated expression of the anti-inflammatory cytokine, interleukin-10 (IL-10). The multifunctional cryogels also showed excellent antibacterial activities against Gram-positive (S.aureus) and Gram-negative (E.coli) bacteria. Furthermore, the cryogels can promote the adhesion and proliferation of mouse fibroblasts (L929) cells. Moreover, CS-TA@CeO2 cryogels presented excellent hemostatic performance in rat tail amputation model. In vivo Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats full-thickness experiments illustrated that the cryogels can significantly accelerate wound healing through providing considerable antioxidant activity, promoting angiogenesis, and increasing collagen deposition. Conclusions: Overall, the multifunctional CS-TA@CeO2 cryogels showed great potential for wound healing.