Polymer-Assisted In Situ Synthesis of Silver Nanoparticles with Epigallocatechin Gallate (EGCG) Impregnated Wound Patch Potentiate Controlled Inflammatory Responses for Brisk Wound Healing

Abstract

Introduction

An ideal wound dressing material needs to be predisposed with desirable attributes like anti-infective effect, skin hydration balance, adequate porosity and elasticity, high mechanical strength, low wound surface adherence, and enhanced tissue regeneration capability. In this work, we have synthesized hydrogel-based wound patches having antibacterial silver nanoparticles and antioxidant epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) and showed fast wound closure through their synergistic interaction without any inherent toxicity.

Methods and results

Wound patches were synthesized from modified guar gum polymer and assessed to determine accelerated wound healing. The modified polymer beget chemical-free in-situ synthesis of monodispersed silver NPs (~12 nm), an antimicrobial agent, besides lending ionic surface charges. EGCG impregnated during ionotropic gelation process amplified the efficacy of wound patches that possess apt tensile strength, porosity, and swellability for absorbing wound exudates. Further, in vitro studies endorsed them as non-cytotoxic and the post agent effect following exposure to the patch showed an unbiased response to E coli K12 and B. subtilis. In vivo study using sub-cutaneous wounds in Wistar rats validated its accelerated healing properties when compared to a commercially available wound dressing material (skin graft; Neuskin-F^®) through better wound contraction, promoted collagen deposition and enhanced vascularization of wound region by modulating growth factors and inflammatory cytokines.

Conclusion

Synthesized wound patches showed all the desired attributes of a clinically effective dressing material and the results were validated in various in vitro and in vivo assays.

Keywords:

• aminated guar gum
• hydrogels
• silver nanoparticles
• epigallocatechin gallate
• wound healing

Acknowledgments

A.K.K. and M.P.P. were supported by UGC-SRF fellowship. N.D. was supported by CSIR-SRF fellowship. A.S. was supported by ICMR-SRF fellowship. The authors also acknowledge Dr. V. Singh and Dr. R. Gera for their help in multiplexing and immunohistochemistry. We acknowledge Mr. K. Mandrah’s valuable help in AAS examination and Miss Khyati from IIT, Mandi, India, for helping in tensile strength examination. The CSIR-IITR manuscript No. is 3589. Dr Mohan Kamthan is currently affiliated with the School of Chemical and Life Sciences, Department of Biochemistry, Jamia Hamdard, Hamdard Nagar, New Delhi-110062, Delhi, India.

Author Contributions

The manuscript was written through the contributions of all authors. All authors contributed to data analysis, drafting or revising the article, gave final approval of the version to be published, and agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work.

Disclosure

The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.