L-hydroxyproline-conjugated chitosan based hydrogel integrated with curcumin-loaded PF127 micelles to promote wound...

Multifunctional hydrogel dressings, with their robust antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties, represent a great potential in biomaterials for wound care. Injectable and self-healing hydrogels that mimic the natural extracellular matrix of tissues offer a promising strategy for effective wound repair. This study designs a hydrogel based on the formation of a dynamic cross-linking network within the hydrogel matrix through the Schiff base reaction between the synthesized polymers L-hydroxyproline-conjugated chitosan (LHCS) and oxidized pullulan (OPL). The fabricated LP hydrogels preserve the porous interconnected microstructure, excellent self-healing capacity, and injectability, suitable swelling capability, robust mechanical strength, and outstanding tissue adhesion. Moreover, curcumin was encapsulated in Polyether F127 (Pluronic F127) micelles to obtain curcumin loaded PF127 (Cur-PF127) micelles and then incorporated into LP hydrogel to fabricate the composite hydrogels. The composite hydrogels exhibit effective antibacterial properties and antioxidant abilities, admired hemostatic effect and hemocompatibility, excellent cytocompatibility and cell pro-migration ability. In addition, in vivo evaluation confirmed that curcumin loaded hydrogels could facilitate the regeneration of epithelial and hair follicles, increase the collagen production, alleviate the inflammatory response via the downregulation of the tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), and reduce the fibrosis, thus promoting the wound repair process. This work offers a promising facile approach for the development of the composite hydrogel as wound dressing in wound healing applications.