Wound healing can be complex and difficult, especially when a patient suffers from other health conditions that hinder the process, say researchers at the University of New Hampshire (USA). on the latter’s website. To help these wounds heal faster, they developed an injectable hydrogel (gel whose swelling agent is water) dressing. Their discovery was published in the newspaper ACS Applied Bio Materials last month.
Gelatin combined with an enzyme
There are already injectable hydrogels that aim to keep the injury stable while the cells regenerate. They are for example applied to irregular wounds, such as diabetic ulcers. But according to American researchers, these current products are not porous enough, that is to say they do not allow neighboring cells of the wound to pass through the hydrogel to help it repair itself. They thus present a “Limited clinical efficacy”, write the scientists in their study.
The team from the University of New Hampshire has created a “macroporous hydrogel”. To do this, she combined gelatin microgels (very small in diameter) with an enzyme called microbial transglutaminase (mTG). Gelatin is actually a natural protein, derived from collagen and found in the connective tissues of the body, especially the skin. The assembly between the two elements would make it possible to obtain a hydrogel with pores large enough for the cells neighboring the wound to move without problem.
To validate their product, the researchers compared conventional non-porous hydrogels to these new macroporous hydrogels. They found a noticeable increase in the migration of tissue cells inside their hydrogel. They conclude that the latter could also help in the healing of the skin, cornea and internal organs during surgery.
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