Characterization and biological activity of PVA hydrogel containing chitooligosaccharides conjugated with gallic acid

Propionibacterium acnes plays a key role in the onset of inflammation leading to acne and in downregulation of the defense system against oxidative stress. Therefore, antibiotics such as macrolides, tetracyclines, azelaic acid, and erythromycin are used to reduce microbial proliferation and resulting inflammation. Nonetheless, antibiotic treatment has side effects including cytotoxicity, allergy, and diarrhea. Therefore, recent studies were focused on the development of alternative antimicrobial materials. We conjugated chitooligosaccharide (COS) with gallic acid (GA) by the hydrogen peroxide-mediated method and evaluated antioxidant and antimicrobial activities. Then, we fabricated a polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) hydrogel containing COS conjugated with GA (GA-COS) for acne treatment. GA-COS at 5-10 kDa showed an excellent antioxidant activity and a better antimicrobial activity against P. acnes as compared with COS. In addition, the PVA hydrogel with GA-COS inhibited intracellular formation of reactive oxygen species and exerted antimicrobial action better than controls did.