Preparation and characterization of smart therapeutic pH-sensitive wound dressing from red cabbage extract and chitosan hydrogel

• Published in: International journal of biological macromolecules Vol. 182; pp. 1820 - 1831
• Main Authors: Arafa, Asmaa Ahmed, Nada, Ahmed Ali, Ibrahim, Abeer Yousry, Sajkiewicz, Pawel, Zahran, Magdy K., Hakeim, Osama A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 01-07-2021
• Subjects: N-methacylated chitosan; pH-sensitive dye; Wound dressing; N-methacylated chitosan; pH-sensitive dye; Wound dressing
• ISSN: 0141-8130; 1879-0003
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2021.05.167

Developing a multifunctional wound dressing that protects, cures and indicates the healing progress, is a new approach of investigation. Red cabbage extract (RCE), consisting of bioactive compounds that have antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-carcinogenic, bactericidal, antifungal, and antiviral activities, was utilized as a natural pH-sensitive indicator. Chitosan-based hydrogel, encapsulating RCE, was developed to obtain a smart therapeutic pH-sensitive wound dressing as antimicrobial bio-matrix provides a comfortable cushion for wound bed and indicates its status. Methacrylated-chitosan was crosslinked by different concentrations of methylenebisacrylamide (MBAA) by which hydrogel mechanical and morphological properties were tuned. The proposed mechanism for hydrogel formation was confirmed by FT-IR. The coloristic properties of the RCE and the changes in color intensity as a function of pH were confirmed by UV–Vis spectroscopy. The effect of MBAA on the mechanical, swelling, release and morphological properties of hydrogel were investigated. MBAA (2.5% wt/v) in 2% wt/v chitosan showed preferable mechanical (20 KPa), swelling (1294% at pH 8 ± 0.2), and release (prolonged up to 5 days) properties. Hydrogel matrices, loaded on cotton gauze submerged in different pH buffer solutions, showed explicit color changes from green to red as pH changed from 9 to 4.