The present disclosure belongs to the field of medical materials, and in particular, relates to a bilayer bionic drug-loaded hydrogel, and preparation and application thereof.
Currently, wound dressings applied to wound care mainly include traditional wound dressings and modern wound dressings. The traditional wound dressings such as gauzes, bandages are generally used for dry and clean wounds. However, the traditional wound dressings fail to keep pathogenic bacteria out of wounds, leading to wound infections. Meanwhile, when the traditional wound dressings are used to care the wounds, the gauzes or bandages are probably adhered to the wounds, causing pain and secondary injuries to patients during dressing changing. Compared to the traditional wound dressings, the modern wound dressings can wet wound area, exchange air, absorb exudates, are not adhere to the wound surface, and promote autolytic debridement of the wound surface. As the modern dressings, hydrogel dressing has good biocompatibility, better water absorption, moisture retention, good air permeability and other advantages, and is thereby the hotspot in modern wound dressings field.
After years of studies and developments, various researchers have studied and developed different types of hydrogel wound dressings according to different wound types. These wound dressings are capable of wetting the wound surface, exchanging air, absorbing exudates, are not adhered to the wound surface, promoting autolytic debridement of the wound surface, and are antibacterial as well. However, those wound dressings are generally weak in tensile strength and toughness, and are not resistant to mechanical environment such as friction, stretching, and extrusion when applied to wound repair, and are prone to be damages, thus losing effects of protecting and repairing wound. As an important performance index for wound dressings, the antimicrobial effect is very important for the wound dressings. Currently, the antimicrobial effect of the hydrogel wound dressings is mainly achieved by the modifying material or loading antimicrobial drugs, while the antimicrobial property of the material itself is weak against strong infectious and drug-resistant pathogenic bacteria, thus resulting in undesirable anti-infection.
Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) is a high-molecular polymer obtained by hydrolysis of vinyl acetate, and is widely used in the biomedical field because of its good water solubility, non-toxicity, non-irritation, and good biocompatibility, as well as the cross-linking ability by repeated freeze-thawing, radiation, and chemical reaction. Currently, PVA hydrogels with ultra-high and broadly modifiable mechanical strength can be prepared using the synergy of directional freezing and Hofmeister effect. However, such hydrogels have yet not been developed for skin wound dressings due to that the hydrogels prepared in this way have a dense and uniform structure, and mechanical properties would be severely impacted if other components are loaded, such as drugs or active factors. In addition, PVA does not have antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties.
Chitosan is alkaline amino polysaccharide after deacetylation by chitin, and features sterilization, hemostasis, cell proliferation promotion, high biocompatibility and ect. Therefore, chitosan is widely used in the field of wound dressing. Genipin is a product of hydrolysis of gardenia glycosides from Encomia or Gardenia by β-glucosidase, and its molecules contain a large number of active groups, such as hydroxyl and carboxyl, which are extremely prone to react with compounds containing free amino groups (such as chitosan and gelatin). Therefore, genipin is often used as a cross-linking agent. As a natural cross-linking agent, toxicity of genipin is 10000 times lower than that of glutaraldehyde, a commonly used chemical cross-linking agent. Moreover, genipin also has anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant effects. However, as a hydrogel, genipin has poor mechanical properties to resist the impact or friction from strong external forces. Therefore, when applied in dressing, genipin is prone to breakage and loss of function. In addition, the chitosan hydrogel is difficult to be firmly bonded to other hydrogels or materials upon gelling, showing poor adhesive property.
Various embodiments of the present disclosure are intended to provide a bilayer bionic drug-loaded hydrogel, and preparation and application thereof, to solve the problem that existing wound dressings are generally weak in tensile strength and toughness and are not resistant to mechanical environment such as friction, stretching and extrusion when applied to wound repair. The hydrogel of the present disclosure can be applied to deeply infected areas in open war wounds, and has protective, anti-inflammatory, haemostatic, reparative, drug-resistant bacterial cleared effects and other properties.
In one aspect, some embodiments of the present disclosure provide a bilayer bionic drug-loaded hydrogel. The hydrogel includes an outer-layer hydrogel and an inner-layer hydrogel.
The outer-layer hydrogel is prepared by: forming a polyvinyl alcohol hydrogel by directionally freezing a polyvinyl alcohol aqueous solution, soaking the polyvinyl alcohol aqueous solution in a 0.5-1.5 mol/L sodium sulfate solution (1.5 mol/L sodium sulfate is a saturated concentration), and removing salt ions after soaking.
The inner-layer hydrogel is prepared from components of: a loaded drug, polyvinyl alcohol, chitosan, genipin, water, and a pH adjuster.
The outer-layer hydrogel and the inner-layer hydrogel are physically cross-linked to form intermolecular hydrogen bonds and microcrystals to bond seamlessly; the structures and mechanical properties of inner and outer layers are widely different (the outer layer is tough but the inner layer is soft and elastic).
The loaded-drug is an antibacterial drug.
The inner-layer hydrogel is in a double-network structure. The double-network structure includes a first network and a second network. The first network is a three-dimensional network structure formed by repeatedly freezing and thawing the polyvinyl alcohol, and the first network structure is a combination of hydrogen bonds between PVA molecular chains, microcrystals, and water in different bonding states at different scales.
The second network is formed by chemically cross-linking molecules of the genipin and the chitosan.
In some embodiments, a mass fraction of the polyvinyl alcohol aqueous solution in the outer-layer hydrogel is in the range of 5% to 10%.
In some embodiments, the mass fraction of the polyvinyl alcohol aqueous solution in the outer-layer hydrogel is 5%. The higher a concentration of PVA in the outer-layer hydrogel, the stronger its mechanical properties, but the mechanical properties should be controlled at a bionic mechanic interval of skin-tendon. From a biomimetic point of view, the lower the concentration and the higher the water content, the more similar the hydrogel is to the physiological tissue, and therefore a concentration of 5% is an optimal selection.
In some embodiments, mass fractions of the polyvinyl alcohol, the chitosan, and the genipin in the inner-layer hydrogel are in the range of 5% to 10%, in the range of 2% to 4%, and in the range of 0.01% to 0.05% respectively. The hydrogels prepared with mass fractions of the polyvinyl alcohol, the chitosan and the genipin, in the inner-layer hydrogel, of from 5% to 10%, from 2% to 4%, and from 0.01% to 0.05% all have good biocompatibility.
In some embodiments, the pH adjuster is a weak acid; the chitosan is dissolvable only in a weak acid environment; and the glacial acetic acid acts to dissolve the chitosan, a concentration of the glacial acetic acid is 1%, and the glacial acetic acid has no adverse impact on the good biocompatibility of the hydrogel.
In some embodiments, the antibacterial drug is vancomycin. The loaded drug will not be affected by modification and cross-linking, nor will it be affected by changes in properties, so that the antibacterial drug embodies the antibacterial property.
In another aspect, some embodiments of the present disclosure provide a method for preparing a bilayer bionic drug-loaded hydrogel. The method includes:
In some embodiments, the chitosan and the polyvinyl alcohol are sterilized by ultraviolet irradiation, and the water is sterilized by autoclaving.
In some embodiments, during the preparation of an inner-layer hydrogel precursor solution, adding the polyvinyl alcohol, heating to 90° C., and stirring to dissolve.
In still another aspect, some embodiments of the present disclosure provide a clinical application of a bilayer bionic drug-loaded hydrogel in medical materials.
In summary, the bilayer bionic drug-loaded hydrogel, preparation and application thereof of the present disclosure solves the problem that existing wound dressings are generally weak in tensile strength and toughness, and are not resistant to mechanical environment such as friction, stretching and extrusion when applied to wound repair, and has the following advantages:
Technical solutions of the present disclosure will be described clearly and completely below. Obviously, the examples described are only some, rather than all examples of the present disclosure. Based on the examples of the present disclosure, all other examples obtained by those ordinary skilled in the art without creative efforts should fall within the scope of protection of the present disclosure.
Preparation of an Outer Polyvinyl Alcohol (PVA) Hydrogel
Preparation of an Inner-Layer Hydrogel Precursor Solution
The chitosan, PVA, beaker, and stirrer were sterilized by ultraviolet irradiation, and the UP water was sterilized by autoclaving. The concentration of the genipin exceeded the required concentration for cross-linking to enhance anti-inflammatory effect.
Preparation of a bilayer bionic drug-loaded hydrogel
The PVA in the inner-layer precursor solution and the PVA in the outer-layer hydrogel formed molecular links by repeated freezing and thawing, and formed a first network by cross-linking in an inner layer. Meanwhile, the genipin made the chitosan form a second network by chemical cross-linking. A soft, moist, adherent, anti-inflammatory, haemostatic and pro-repair inner-layer hydrogel similar to subcutaneous tissue was obtained by adjusting cross-linking parameters of the double network system. The loading of vancomycin greatly improved the ability of hydrogel to resist infection by Gram-positive resistant bacteria and was suitable for the care of severely infected wounds such as war wounds.
A structural diagram of a bilayer drug-loaded hydrogel of the present disclosure was shown in
The microscopic morphology of cross section a and longitudinal section b of the outer-layer hydrogel of the present disclosure, as shown in
An image of a cross section of the inner-layer hydrogel under a scanning electron microscope, as shown in
Images of a cross section and a longitudinal section of the bilayer hydrogel under a scanning electron microscope, as shown in
Tensile properties of materials were measured with a universal mechanical testing machine.
Mechanical properties of a hydrogel of the present disclosure were shown in
Mechanical properties of inner and outer hydrogels of the present disclosure were shown in
Materials are performed total reflection scanning using an infrared spectrometer. Infrared spectroscopy of an inner-layer hydrogel of the present disclosure is shown in
According to ISO 10993-5:1999 and GB/T 16886.5-2003, the biocompatibility of hydrogels with different drug-loading amounts was evaluated, wherein vancomycin (VCM)=x mg/ml represented the number of milligrams of vancomycin per milliliter hydrogel. Day 1: cell relative growth rates (RGR) in groups of VCM=0 mg/mL, VCM=2 mg/mL, VCM=5 mg/mL and VCM=8 mg/mL are 90.69%, 108.89%, 109.31% and 107.94% respectively. Day 3: the RGRs in groups of VCM=0 mg/mL, VCM=2 mg/mL, VCM=5 mg/mL and VCM=8 mg/mL are 74.23%, 83.13%, 99.27% and 95.68% respectively.
The cytocompatibility evaluation of the bilayer bionic drug-loaded hydrogel of the present disclosure was shown in
The antioxidant property of the hydrogel was evaluated using a DPPH radical scavenging method, the result was shown in
The antibacterial property of 5 mg/ml of hydrogel loading with vancomycin was evaluated using an inhibition zone method, as shown in
Adhesion effects of the hydrogel of the present disclosure on different materials surface were shown in
Although contents of the present disclosure have been described in detail with reference to the above preferred examples, it should be appreciated that the above description should not be considered as a limitation to the present disclosure. Various modifications and alternatives to the present disclosure will be apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading the foregoing. Accordingly, the scope of protection of the present disclosure should be defined by the attached claims.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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202210809586.0 | Jul 2022 | CN | national |
This application is a continuation of PCT/CN2023/102580, filed Jun. 27, 2023 and claims priority of Chinese Patent Application No. 202210809586.0, filed on Jul. 11, 2022, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | PCT/CN2023/102580 | Jun 2023 | US |
Child | 18476562 | US |