Physical and biological assessments of the innovative bilayered wound dressing made of silk and gelatin for clinical applications

The physical and biological assessments of the innovative bilayered wound dressing made of silk and gelatin that we have developed previously were performed to evaluate its efficacy for clinical applications. The absorption ability and dehydration rate of the dressing were assessed using the split-thickness skin graft and leg ulcer wound bed models. The bioactivities of the bilayered wound dressing were evaluated. The bilayered dressing showed continuous absorption rate of wound exudate, providing the suitability for the wound with extended inflammation phase. The dehydration rate of the bilayered dressing was comparable to the commercially available dressing of which the moisture maintenance capability is claimed. The bilayered dressing showed good conformability, as can be seen by the homogeneous distribution pattern of bromophenol blue absorbed. In terms of biological activities, the bilayered dressing was less toxic to skin cells than the commercially available dressing. The bilayered dressing was also shown to promote cell migration and collagen production due to the bioactive protein components. We here concluded that the superior properties of the bilayered dressing over the commercially available dressing were the conformability and biological activities to accelerate the wound healing, while the other properties were comparable to those of commercially available dressing. The data obtained in this study would be very useful for the further evaluation of the bilayered dressing in clinical trial.