Development and Characterization of Microwave-Assisted Physically Cross-Linked Quercetin Loaded Guar Gum and Sodium Alginate Composite Bipolymeric Film with Antibacterial and Antioxidant Potency for Chronic Wound Healing
Ishika Dey, Koushik Ghosh, Ahana Hazra, Pankaj Paul, Pratibha Bhowmick, Mithun Bhowmick
Abstract
There is a significant burden on public health caused by the extensive cost of wound management therapy, the prolonged healing process associated with wounds, and the unpredictable nature of its effect on physiological processes throughout the body. Quercetin (QT), a flavonoid that occurs in vegetables and fruits, is well-known, due to its pharmaceutical benefits, which include anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. The purpose of this work was to develop a microwave-assisted guar gum (GG) and sodium alginate (SA) composite quercetin-loaded polymeric film by the solvent casting technique and subsequently evaluate it for several characteristics necessary for wound healing. Methods used to examine this effect include the use of microwaves: electromagnetic radiation that has a frequency that ranges from 300 MHz to 300 GHz. They have been utilized for the production of films and to improve their mechanical characteristics. To examine the results, the interaction of GG and SA was evaluated by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and thermal evaluation (differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA)). The antimicrobial study of optimized film (F3) against Staphylococcus aureus MTCC 2940 and Escherichia coli MTCC 1195, as well as Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 424, were determined by the agar well diffusion method. The MTT test demonstrated that the film is not harmful to the NIH3T3 fibroblast cell line. The F3 film showed 96.5% ± 0.34% wound healing efficacy in the Wistar rat model evaluated against the untreated disease control group ( p < 0.05). In conclusion, this research study states the formulation of polymeric film based on the GG-SA conjugate loaded with QT that improves physical characteristics, making them a strong candidate to accelerate the regeneration of skin tissue and improve the chronic wound healing process.