Mg-MOF74 derivant with photothermal antibacterial activity and enhanced pro-healing effects for the treatment of traumatic oral ulcers

Traumatic oral ulcers, arising from local physicochemical or mechanical stimuli, exhibit considerable discomfort, an extended healing period, and a potential for malignant transformation. Existing etiological treatments mainly include antibacterial therapy and promoting ulcer healing. Nevertheless, antibacterial therapy using antibiotics may cause unexpected side effects and drug resistance. Additionally, commonly used wound-healing drugs, such as growth factors and glucocorticoids, have drawbacks including instability, high cost, and systemic adverse reactions. To address these issues, a magnesium-incorporated photosensitive metal-organic framework (MOF) derivant, denoted as MgO/C, was developed by pyrolysis of Mg-MOF74. The MgO/C was characterized using scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The established MgO/C showed an excellent photothermal antibacterial performance upon prevalent oral ulcer pathogens under near-infrared light irradiation, featured by antibacterial rates of 97.8% and 96.5% against Streptococcus mutans and Staphylococcus aureus, respectively. Moreover, the MgO/C exhibited controlled release of magnesium ions for up to four days and effectively enhanced fibroblast proliferation, migration and adhesion, at an optimal concentration of 200 ppm. A rat traumatic oral ulcer model demonstrated that the MgO/C+NIR group could facilitate ulcer healing in vivo, resulting in an increase of wound healing rate by 23.4%, in comparison to the control on day 3. Our study revealed that MgO/C had great potential for the treatment of traumatic oral ulcers.