experiment.
One way to apply this type of hydrogels for drug delivery and tissue
engineering is to use them as wound dressing (Hamedi, 2018; Wechsler,
2019). Thereby, the hydrogel absorbs wound exudates, providing a balance
of hydration and, also, using this aqueous environment to slowly release
loaded drugs. In order to evaluate the general behavior of starch-CS-GA
hydrogel in vivo , it was used in a mouse wound healing model
(Figure 9 ). No nanoparticles were used in this experiment, only
hydrogel effect was evaluated.
All wounds in control and treated animals had a 6 mm diameter on day 0;
variations of this parameter were studied for 15 days (Figure
9A ). At the 3rd day of the experiment, mice treated
with hydrogels presented a dry wound, without redness or inflammation.
In contrast, control animals showed inflamed, reddened, and exuding
wounds. Because of this, an increase in the diameter of the wounds was
observed in untreated animals, presenting a deterioration instead of the
recovery observed in hydrogel-treated animals (Figure 9B ). A
similar effect was observed on day 6 for both groups. But, around a week
after the beginning of the experiment, the natural healing process was
evident in control mice, which showed a reduction in wound diameters at
day 9. However, wound healing effects were more evident in the treated
animals. By day 12, all treated animals healed, while this process was
not completed in untreated control mice.
The study revealed significative differences between both groups in
wound healing during the complete experiment. The absence of
inflammation and exudates in treated animals, along with faster healing,
suggests the hydrogel beneficial effect. These results evidence the
potentialities of starch-CS-GA hydrogel for wound dressing applications.
Although no biologically active drugs or nanoparticles were used in thisin vivo study, the swelling properties and the efficient load of
chitosan nanoparticles observed for this type of hydrogel, are
encouraging evidences of its potential application in drug delivery.
Conclusions .
Based on its excellent properties, such as biodegradability,
biocompatibility, and low cost, starch is a remarkably interesting
choice for the development of polymer-based devices in biological
applications. Its combination with other polymers could improve the
mechanical and biological properties and facilitate the formation of
functional hydrogels. PVA and chitosan interaction with starch led to
the formation of hydrogels under certain conditions. Among the four
synthesized hydrogels, the combination of starch and chitosan by
chemical crosslinking showed the best results in terms of structure,
swelling, and resulted safe in vitro and in vivo . The
wound healing experiment in mice proved the potentialities of
starch-CS-GA for tissue engineering applications; while its excellent
interaction with chitosan nanoparticles evidenced a promissory behavior
in the delivery of these nanoparticulate systems. The other three
hydrogels presented relevant properties that justify next studies in
order to fully exploit their potential.
Conflict of interest .
The authors have no conflict of interest to declare.
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Table .