An Intelligent Spatially Selective Modified Starch Hydrogel Dressing Breaks the Stability-Efficiency Trade-Off in...

Intelligent controllable-release hydrogel systems hold significant promise for wound management, owing to their capacity for on-demand and precise drug delivery. Nevertheless, existing delivery systems encounter substantial challenges in encapsulation stability and release efficiency, especially for lipophilic active substances. These limitations considerably impair their therapeutic efficacy and, consequently, their ability to promote wound healing. In this study, we designed a novel delivery system by integrating spatially selective catalytically modified starch molecules with a smart stimuli-responsive polymeric hydrogel. The spatial confinement effect of lipase nanoflowers enabled regulated hydrophobic modification of starch. This modified starch-stabilized curcumin Pickering emulsion effectively prolonged curcumin stability, retaining 65% antioxidant activity over 90 days. Furthermore, the Pickering emulsion was incorporated into a thermosensitive hydrogel to construct a drug-controlled release system (C-PNMs). The system exhibited rapid and efficient drug release in response to wound temperature, achieving a release rate of 93.4%, which represented an approximately 50% improvement over other reported systems. The superior bioactivity preservation and intelligent on-demand drug release performance of this system offer a promising strategy for the management of compromised skin.