Adhesive transparent antimicrobial quaternized chitosan/oxidized dextran/polydopamine nanoparticle hydrogels for accelerated wound healing

Pu Hou; Kun Lei; Zhishen Zhang; Pengchao Zhao; Jinghua Li; Guangda Li; Jianfeng Bao; Xin Li; Yun Xue; Chunshan Quan; Fangfang Fu

doi:10.1016/j.bioadv.2025.214176

Adhesive transparent antimicrobial quaternized chitosan/oxidized dextran/polydopamine nanoparticle hydrogels for accelerated wound healing

Biomater Adv. 2025 Jan 9:169:214176. doi: 10.1016/j.bioadv.2025.214176. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Pu Hou¹, Kun Lei², Zhishen Zhang¹, Pengchao Zhao³, Jinghua Li¹, Guangda Li¹, Jianfeng Bao¹, Xin Li⁴, Yun Xue¹, Chunshan Quan⁵, Fangfang Fu¹

Affiliations

¹ College of Medical Technology and Engineering, Henan University of Science and Technology, Luoyang 471023, China.
² College of Medical Technology and Engineering, Henan University of Science and Technology, Luoyang 471023, China; State Key Laboratory of Polymer Materials Engineering, Sichuan University, No. 24, South 1st Section, 1st Ring Road, Chengdu 610065, China.
³ College of Medical Technology and Engineering, Henan University of Science and Technology, Luoyang 471023, China. Electronic address: pengchao_zpc@163.com.
⁴ Shanxi Key Laboratory of Yuncheng Salt Lake Ecological Protection and Resource Utilization, Yuncheng University, 044000, China.
⁵ Department of Life Science, Dalian Nationalities University, Dalian 116600, China.

PMID: 39798276
DOI: 10.1016/j.bioadv.2025.214176

Abstract

Hydrogels possessing appropriate adhesion and antibacterial properties have emerged as promising dressings for expediting wound healing, while also providing the convenience of visualizing the wound site to accurately monitor the healing process. In this study, we incorporated oxidized and degraded polydopamine nanoparticles into quaternized chitosan/oxidized dextran hydrogel QOP series, resulting in enhanced transmittance exceeding 95 % and adhesion strengths reaching up to 19.4 kPa. Moreover, these hydrogels exhibit a well-defined porous structure, rapid gelling ability (<50 s), exceptional self-healing capacity, and a swelling rate surpassing 760 %. Furthermore, the QOP hydrogels demonstrate outstanding hemocompatibility (hemolysis rate < 3 %) and cytocompatibility (cell viability >100 %). In addition, they display potent inhibition against Staphylococcus aureus, methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA), Staphylococcus pasteuri and Escherichia coli, with bactericidal rates exceeded 90 %. The closure of MRSA-infected wounds along with H&E and Masson staining analysis revealed that QOP hydrogels can expedite wound healing by stimulating collagen deposition and facilitating angiogenesis.

Keywords: Adhesion; Antibacterial; Polydopamine nanoparticles; Polysaccharides; QOP hydrogels; Wound healing.