Multifunctional self-healing and pH-responsive hydrogel dressing based on cationic guar gum and hyaluronic acid for on-demand drug release

Yan Wang; Chufan Yang; Weigang Zhang; Xinyu Wang; Zheng Zhao; Zhenyu Wang; Lingling Zhang

doi:10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2025.140326

Multifunctional self-healing and pH-responsive hydrogel dressing based on cationic guar gum and hyaluronic acid for on-demand drug release

Int J Biol Macromol. 2025 Jan 24:140326. doi: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2025.140326. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Yan Wang¹, Chufan Yang¹, Weigang Zhang², Xinyu Wang², Zheng Zhao³, Zhenyu Wang⁴, Lingling Zhang⁵

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Advanced Technology for Materials Synthesis and Processing, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430070, China; Sanya Science and Education Innovation Park of Wuhan University of Technology, Sanya 572000, China.
² State Key Laboratory of Advanced Technology for Materials Synthesis and Processing, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430070, China.
³ State Key Laboratory of Advanced Technology for Materials Synthesis and Processing, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430070, China; Sanya Science and Education Innovation Park of Wuhan University of Technology, Sanya 572000, China. Electronic address: zhengzhao@whut.edu.cn.
⁴ Key Laboratory of Biodiversity Conservation and Bioresources Utilization of Jiangxi Province, College of Life Sciences, Jiangxi Normal University, Nanchang 330000, China. Electronic address: zhenyuwang1983@163.com.
⁵ Center for Evidence-Based and Translational Medicine, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan 430071, China. Electronic address: llzhang@whu.edu.cn.

PMID: 39864699
DOI: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2025.140326

Abstract

Pathogen invasion and persistent inflammatory storms caused by bacterial infections are the main challenges to the healing of infected wounds. Herein, this study proposed a pH-responsive polysaccharide hydrogel dressing (CG-HA) composed of cationic guar gum (CG) and hyaluronic acid (HA). Additionally, Zn²⁺ and ferulic acid (FA)/β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) inclusion complexes (FA/β-CD) were co-introduced into the CG-HA hydrogel to form the desired FA/β-CD@CG-HA-Zn hydrogel. The FA/β-CD@CG-HA-Zn hydrogel was constructed based on multiple non-covalent interactions, including electrostatic interactions, coordination bonds and hydrogen bonds, allowing it to conform to irregular wound shapes. Notably, the release rates of FA and Zn²⁺ at pH 7.5 were faster than those at pH 5.5, indicating that the FA/β-CD@CG-HA-Zn hydrogel exhibited excellent pH responsiveness and enabled intelligent drug release. Moreover, the inclusion of FA and Zn²⁺ endowed the hydrogel with robust antibacterial activity against S. aureus (97 %), MRSA (94 %), and E. coli (95 %). Finally, the FA/β-CD@CG-HA-Zn hydrogel demonstrated efficacy in promoting wound healing by modulating the immune microenvironment and accelerating vascularization. Thus, the developed self-healing FA/β-CD@CG-HA-Zn hydrogel with pH-triggered on-demand drug release is a promising wound dressing for the management of infected wounds.

Keywords: Anti-inflammatory; Cationic guar gum; Ferulic acid; Hyaluronic acid; Wound healing; β-cyclodextrin.

Publication types

Review