Synthesis and Evaluation of Functionalized Polyurethanes for pH-Responsive Delivery of Compounds in Chronic Wounds
Files
(Published version)
Date
2023
Authors
Li, Z.
Crago, M.
Schofield, T.
Zeng, H.
Vyas, H.K.N.
Mullner, M.
Mai-Prochnow, A.
Farajikhah, S.
Naficy, S.
Dehghani, F.
Editors
Advisors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Type:
Journal article
Citation
Gels, 2023; 9(8):611-1-611-19
Statement of Responsibility
Zhongyan Li, Matthew Crago, Timothy Schofield, Haoxiang Zeng, Heema Kumari Nilesh Vyas, Markus Müllner, Anne Mai-Prochnow, Syamak Farajikhah, Sina Naficy, Fariba Dehghani, and Sepehr Talebian
Conference Name
Abstract
Chronic wounds, depending on the bacteria that caused the infection, can be associated with an extreme acidic or basic pH. Therefore, the application of pH-responsive hydrogels has been instigated for the delivery of therapeutics to chronic wounds. Herein, with the aim of developing a flexible pH-responsive hydrogel, we functionalized hydrophilic polyurethanes with either cationic (polyethylene imine) or anionic (succinic anhydride) moieties. A comprehensive physicochemical characterization of corresponding polymers was carried out. Particularly, when tested in aqueous buffers, the surface charge of hydrogel films was closely correlated with the pH of the buffers. The loading of the cationic and anionic hydrogel films with various compound models (bromophenol blue; negatively charged or Pyronin Y; positively charged) showed that the electrostatic forces between the polymeric backbone and the compound model will determine the ultimate release rate at any given pH. The potential application of these films for chronic wound drug delivery was assessed by loading them with an antibiotic (ciprofloxacin). In vitro bacterial culturing was performed using <i>Staphylococcus aureus</i> (<i>S. aureus</i>) and <i>Escherichia coli</i> (<i>E. coli</i>). Results showed that at the same drug dosage, different release profiles achievable from cationic and anionic polyurethanes can yield different degrees of an antibacterial effect. Overall, our results suggest the potential application of cationic and anionic hydrophilic polyurethanes as flexible pH-responsive materials for the delivery of therapeutics to chronic wounds.
School/Discipline
Dissertation Note
Provenance
Description
Access Status
Rights
© 2023 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/).