A biocompatible sodium alginate/povidone iodine film enhances wound healing

In the last few years, there has been an increasing tendency to use natural polymers for the fabrication of dressings for wound and burn management. Among them, alginate, a polysaccharide extracted primarily from marine algae, exhibits attractive properties being non-toxic, hydrophilic and biodegradable. The aim of this study was to characterize the in vitro biocompatibility and the efficacy of a composite polymeric material based on sodium alginate (NaAlg) and povidone iodine (PVPI) complex in a mouse model of wound healing. The developed material combines the excellent wound healing properties of alginates with the bactericidal and fungicidal properties of PVPI, providing a controlled antiseptic release. We demonstrated that the NaAlg/PVPI films are able to reduce the inflammatory response both in human foreskin fibroblasts after lipopolysaccharide (LPS) stimulus and in rodents after wound induction. Furthermore, the NaAlg/PVPI film-treated animals showed a significantly higher wound closure compared to untreated animals at each time point considered. Interestingly, the complete wound closure was achieved within 12 days only in the film-treated group, indicating that the full-thickness wounds healed more rapidly in these animals. The results demonstrate that the NaAlg/PVPI films are biocompatible and possess healing properties that accelerate the wound closure.