Multicomponent bioactive hydrogel promoting full-thickness burn wound healing in rabbits

Abstract

Effective treatment for full-thickness burn wounds has remained challenging for clinicians. Among various strategies, extracellular gel-based dressing materials have gained attention to promote effective and rapid wound healing. These gel-based materials are porous, antioxidant, antibacterial, hydrophilic, biodegradable, and biocompatible and hence can be used to alleviate burn wound healing. In concurrence with these findings, the present study evaluates temperature-inducing self-assembled decellularized extracellular matrix (ECM) of caprine small intestine submucosa (DG-SIS) gel-based dressing material for burn wound healing. To efficiently tackle excessive free radicals and bioburden at the burn wound site, DG-SIS gel is enriched with antibacterial components (zinc oxide nanoparticles; ZnO) and a potent antioxidant agent, Vitamin-C (Vt-C), to expedite healing. In the current study, ZnO- and Vt-C-enriched DG-SIS (DG-SIS/ZnO/Vt-C) gels significantly increased the antioxidant and antibacterial activity of the therapeutic hydrogel. Additionally, the fabricated bioactive gel (DG-SIS/ZnO/Vt-C) depicted significant full-thickness burn wound contraction (97.75 % in 14 days), a lower inflammatory effect and effective angiogenesis with the highest collagen synthesis (1.22 μg/mg in 14 days) at the wound site. Comparable outcomes demonstrate the synergistic effect of DG-SIS/ZnO/Vt-C-based bioactive gel as an effective and inexpensive therapeutic approach for full-thickness burn wound treatment.