Injectable, antibacterial, and oxygen-releasing chitosan-based hydrogel for multimodal healing of bacteria-infected wounds

Abstract

Bacterial infection is one of the main challenges of wound healing. It imposes financial and healthcare costs. The emergence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria has increased concerns about this challenge, and made finding alternative solutions a crucial aim. We created a new, antibacterial, multifunctional hydrogel with synergistic chemodynamic and photothermal features for wound-healing applications. We fabricated a chitosan (CT)-based hydrogel containing tannic acid (TA), Fe, and MnO₂ nanosheets (CT-TA-Fe-MnO₂) <i>via</i> a simple method and characterized it. The antibacterial features (resulting from the production of reactive oxygen species within bacterial cells) and healing ability (<i>via</i> anti-inflammatory and hemostatic features) of the hydrogel were confirmed <i>in vitro</i>. <i>In vivo</i> results revealed the effectiveness of the CT-TA-Fe-MnO₂ hydrogel in decreasing the hemostatic time, improving anti-inflammatory effects, and promoting wound healing during 14 days by enhancing the deposition and maturation of collagen fibers without affecting the vital organs. The fabricated CT-TA-Fe-MnO₂ hydrogel could be a promising candidate with antibacterial and anti-inflammatory activities suitable for wound-healing applications.