Thermoresponsive Polymeric Hydrogel Reinforced Zinc Doped Wollastonite for Skin Tissue Regeneration

Abstract

Wound healing is a complex biological process involving blood coagulation, inflammation, proliferation and remodeling of the cells. Since bacterial infection at the wound is a common phenomenon, commonly used applicants typically lack to achieve complete healing. Calcium silicate (CaSiO3) or Wollastonite (Ws), is an inorganic material used in bone tissue engineering. In recent studies it has been shown to induce soft tissue regeneration also. Ionic dissolution of Si and Ca proven to induce vascularization of endothelial cells (ECs) as well as regeneration of fibroblast cells. Incorporating Zn with Ws not only increases its antimicrobial property but also facilitates proliferation of fibroblast cells. Recently thermosensitive hydrogel have reported to promote skin cell proliferation and enhance gene delivery in diabetic cutaneous wound. It is also reported to cure subcutaneous burn injuries by recruiting fibroblast cells. One of the attractive characteristic of the thermosensitive hydrogel is that a viscous gel is formed from a liquid solution under the appropriate conditions facilitating skin cells proliferation. Based on the above hypothesis, the present work is focused on fabrication of biocompatible Pluronic®F127 hydrogel with zinc doped wollastonite (Zn-Ws) particles and determining its antimicrobial properties towards wound healing process. Morphological characterizations were determined using DLS and SEM which showed the size of the Ws and Zn-Ws to be 460 nm, 590 nm respectively. EDAX and FT-IR spectral analysis have confirmed the presence of major elements and corresponding molecular bonds associated to each synthesized particles. Furthermore, the wound healing property study next to antimicrobial activity of Ws and Zn-(Ws) hydrogel was assessed in vitro. The studies showed that the Zn-(Ws) hydrogel was found to be more effective in wound repair when compared to commercial antibiotics. The hydrogel also showed good antibacterial and anti-biofilm activity against both gram positive and negative bacteria. It is concluded that fabrication of (Ws) with thermosensitive hydrogel may promote proliferation of skin fibroblast cells in-vitro. Thereby the composition is expected to facilitate wound healing faster than the commercial drugs and the presence of zinc would increase its antimicrobial properties thereby reducing risk of post injury infection. newline