New Amorphous Hydrogels with Proliferative Properties as Potential Tools in Wound Healing
Petruţa Preda, Ana‐Maria Enciu, Bianca Țîncu, Iuliana Mihalache, Gabriel Crăciun, Adina Brăgaru, Ludmila Aricov, Cosmin Romanițan, Diana Stan, Cătălin Mărculescu, Cristiana Tanase, Marioara Avram
Abstract
The study and discovery of bioactive compounds and new formulations as potential tools for promoting the repair of dermoepidermal tissue in wound healing is of continuing interest. We have developed a new formulation of amorphous hydrogel based on sodium alginate (NaAlg); type I collagen, isolated by the authors from silver carp tails (COL); glycerol (Gli); Aloe vera gel powder (AV); and silver nanoparticles obtained by green synthesis with aqueous Cinnamomum verum extract (AgNPs@CIN) and vitamin C, respectively. The gel texture of the amorphous hydrogels was achieved by the addition of Aloe vera, demonstrated by a rheological analysis. The evaluations of the cytotoxicity and cell proliferation capacity of the experimental amorphous hydrogels were performed against human foreskin fibroblast Hs27 cells (CRL-1634-ATCC). The developed gel formulations did not show a cytotoxic effect. The hydrogel variant containing AgNPs@CIN in a concentration of 8 µg Ag/gel formulation and hydrogel variant with vitamin C had proliferative activity. In addition, the antibacterial activity of the hydrogels was evaluated against S. aureus ATCC 6538, Ps. aeruginosa ATCC 27853, and E. coli ATCC 25922. The results demonstrated that the gel variant based on AgNPs@CIN in a concentration of 95 µg Ag/gel formulation and the hydrogel based on vitamin C show antibacterial activity. Therefore, the developed hydrogels with AgNPs@CIN and vitamin C could be promising alternatives in wound healing.