Investigation on Swelling of Agar‐Based Antibacterial Hydrogels for Hard‐to‐Heal Wound Dressings

• Published in: ChemMedChem 2025-01, Vol.20 (1), p.e202400042-n/a
• Main Authors: Szarlej, Paweł, Piłat, Edyta, Gnatowski, Przemysław, Cieśliński, Hubert, Sienkiewicz, Maciej, Kucińska‐Lipka, Justyna
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Agar; Agar - chemistry; Amikacin; Amikacin - chemistry; Amikacin - pharmacology; Amikacin sulfate; Anti-Bacterial Agents - chemical synthesis; Anti-Bacterial Agents - chemistry; Anti-Bacterial Agents - pharmacology; Antibacterial activity; Antiinfectives and antibacterials; Bandages; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; Drug Liberation; E coli; Escherichia coli - drug effects; Hard-to-heal wounds; Humans; Hydrogel; Hydrogels; Hydrogels - chemical synthesis; Hydrogels - chemistry; Hydrogels - pharmacology; Kinetics; Medical dressings; Microbial Sensitivity Tests; Physicochemical properties; Staphylococcus epidermidis - drug effects; Swelling; Wound dressing; Wound healing; Wound Healing - drug effects
• ISSN: 1860-7179; 1860-7187; 1860-7187
• DOI: 10.1002/cmdc.202400042

Despite a wide range of available wound treatments, hard‐to‐heal wounds still pose a challenge. Hydrogels are often used as dressings for these wounds, because they sustain moisture in the wound environment, supporting the natural healing process. However, it is still not fully understood how physicochemical properties of hydrogel matrix affect the drug release process. Thus, detailed swelling kinetics examination coupled with modeling is needed together with studies on drug release. In this regard, several hydrogels based on plant‐derived agar and modified with amikacin sulfate were investigated. The main properties of hydrogels were examined focusing on detailed swelling kinetics. Drug release was studied as microbiological activity against E. coli and S. Epidermidis strains. The obtained hydrogels were characterized by high swelling, reaching values in range from 465–1300 %, fitting the second order kinetics mode and exhibiting the quasi‐Fickian diffusion properties. Furthermore, there was no correlation found between swelling properties and antibacterial activity against tested strains. The results confirmed that presented hydrogel materials have desirable properties for application as dressings for hard‐to‐heal wounds. The suggested compositions are a promising base for modification with other active substances (e. g., regenerative, anti‐inflammatory) and studying the broader correlation between swelling and drug release. The treatment of hard‐to‐heal wounds such as burns, bedsores or ulcerations is still difficult. In this paper, natural agar‐based antibacterial hydrogels are proposed for the such challenging wound dressing application. To understand the drug release process, detailed swelling kinetics examination, coupled with modeling, was performed and followed with the microbiological activity assessment against E. coli and S. Epidermidis strains.