Preparation of self‐regulating/anti‐adhesive hydrogels and their ability to promote healing in burn wounds

Abstract Few burn dressings can self‐regulate the optimal humidity levels that are required for wound healing, while also providing good anti‐adhesive properties to prevent damage that can occur when wound dressings are changed. Consequently, a water‐soluble carboxymethylcellulose sodium/sodium alginate/chitosan (CMC‐Na/SA/CS) composite hydrogel has been developed as a potential burn wound dressing, with orthogonal testing revealing an optimal ratio of CMC‐Na, SA, and CS as 2, 3, and 1 wt % for hydrogel preparation, respectively. The resultant hydrogel has been formulated into composite wound dressings that were then used for the treatment of deep second degree burn wounds in Sprague–Dawley (SD) rats. Analysis of the physical properties of this dressing revealed that it exhibits good water vapor permeability properties that promote the healing of deep second‐degree burn wounds. The pro‐healing mechanism of the dressing has been investigated Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expression was upregulated and basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) expression was downregulated in the early periods of wound healing, with upregulation of bFGF then occurring at a later stage of wound healing. At the same time, the wound dressing decreased the levels of tumor necrosis factor‐α and interleukin‐6, thus validating its beneficial effect on the wound healing process at a biomolecular level. In conclusion, this new hydrogel dressing was shown to exhibit excellent self‐regulatory and anti‐adhesive properties that synergistically promote the healing of burn wounds in rats, thus providing promising results that may have clinical applications. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part B: Appl Biomater 107B: 1471–1482, 2019.