Fabrication and characterization of polyvinyl alcohol / sodium alginate hydrogels for wound dressing

Background and Aim : Skin is the first and most important body defense, and it has many functions including heat regulation, conduction of physical senses and acts as a mechanical barrier to protect the body against foreign substances, therefore, any damage to this organ must be remedied within the shortest possible time. Today, natural and synthetic polymers play an important role in biomedicine, especially wound dressings. Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and sodium alginate (SA) are widely used in wound healing field due to their biodegradability, carcinogenicity, and biocompatibility. Methods : In this study, four PVA-SA hydrogel samples containing 0% SA, 15% SA, 25% SA And 50% SA, were prepared by freeze-thawing method and used for wound healing purposes. The morphological, molecular, biological properties of the samples, as well as water absorption, degradation, and antibacterial properties, were evaluated using the two bacteria Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli for the samples Results : Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images showed that the pure PVA sample had a relatively smooth surface and by adding SA, the roughness of the surface increased. FTIR analysis proves that SA has successfully bonded with PVA. The results of the water uptake test showed that by increasing the amount of SA in PVA hydrogel, the percentage of water absorption of hydrogel also increased and in this experiment the maximum amount of water absorption was related to PVA-SA 50% sample. Degradation test results showed that with increasing SA percentage and also over time, weight loss of samples increased. The PVA-SA 50% sample showed the highest degradation in 48 hours. MTT assay proved that all the samples are biocompatible and antibacterial test shows that the diameter of zone of inhibition of PVA-SA 50% sample was bigger than the other samples Conclusion : According to the results of these tests, PVA-SA 50% sample is the best candidate in this study for wound dressing application because of its ideal water absorption, degradation, biocompatibility, antibacterial properties.

کلیدواژه ها:

Wound dressing ، tissue engineering ، freeze-thawing ، Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) ، sodium alginate (SA)