Self-Assembled Eutectogel with Cell Permeation and Multiple Anti-Inflammatory Abilities for Treating Chronic...

Eutectogels represent an attractive option for various industrial applications that use deep eutectic solvents (DESs) as effective liquid active ingredients and offer remarkable stability, cost-effectiveness, and environmental friendliness. However, the biological applications of these compounds are limited. DESs are highly structurally tunable and exhibit remarkable biofunctionality and biocompatibility, conferring substantial benefits in the treatment of diseases. In this study, choline-chloride and mannose are used to fabricate ChCl/M DES, followed by introduction of lysozyme fibers and gallic acid for self-assembly into injectable eutectogels through hydrogen bonding and hydrophilic/hydrophobic interaction interactions. The eutectogels demonstrate almost 100% bactericidal activities against three strains and significant immune-regulation. This is supported by a decrease in the proportion of CD86-expressing cells from 64.02% to 18.17% and an increase in CD206-expressing cells from 2.53% to 29.96% through flow cytometry experiments. The eutectogels effectively inhibit alveolar bone loss and alleviated local inflammation in a rat model of chronic periodontitis owing to the promotion of gallic acid in the cell membrane by the ChCl/M DES. Hence, self-assembled eutectogels exhibit the potential to enhance the efficacy if treatments/therapies against inflammatory diseases by facilitating bacterial control, reactive oxygen species scavenging, and the regulation of macrophages by promoting cell permeation of small-molecule drugs.