Hydrogel Dressing Containing Basic Fibroblast Growth Factor Accelerating Chronic Wound Healing in Aged Mouse Model.

Area of Science:

• Biomaterials Science
• Regenerative Medicine
• Wound Healing Research

Background:

• Elderly individuals experience impaired wound healing due to reduced self-repairing capabilities, leading to chronic wounds.
• Developing advanced wound dressings is crucial to enhance healing in the elderly, reducing patient suffering and healthcare costs.

Purpose of the Study:

• To create and evaluate a novel hydrogel wound dressing incorporating heparin and basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF).
• To assess the dressing's efficacy in accelerating chronic wound healing in aged subjects.

Main Methods:

• Hydrogel formation by mixing heparin and bFGF with 4-arm acrylated polyethylene glycol and dithiothreitol at room temperature.
• In vitro release studies to determine bFGF release kinetics (≥7 days) and dressing degradation (3 days).
• In vivo assessment on full-thickness wounds in aged mice, comparing bFGF-loaded hydrogel (bFGF-Gel) with bFGF solution (bFGF-Sol) and control.

Main Results:

• The bFGF-Gel dressing demonstrated sustained bFGF release for over 7 days.
• Histological and immunohistochemical analyses showed significantly enhanced wound closure and healing in the bFGF-Gel group.
• The hydrogel dressing exhibited superior wound healing performance compared to bFGF-Sol and untreated controls.

Conclusions:

• The developed bFGF-loaded hydrogel dressing is effective in promoting chronic wound healing in elderly subjects.
• This novel biomaterial shows potential for improved clinical application in treating chronic wounds in the elderly population.