Controlled water vapor transmission rate promotes wound-healing via wound re-epithelialization and contraction enhancement

A desirable microenvironment is essential for wound healing, in which an ideal moisture content is one of the most important factors. The fundamental function and requirement for wound dressings is to keep the wound at an optimal moisture. Here, we prepared serial polyurethane (PU) membrane dressings with graded water vapor transmission rates (WVTRs), and the optimal WVTR of the dressing for wound healing was identified by both in vitro and in vivo studies. It was found that the dressing with a WVTR of 2028.3 +/- 237.8 g/m(2).24 h was able to maintain an optimal moisture content for the proliferation and regular function of epidermal cells and fibroblasts in a three-dimensional culture model. Moreover, the dressing with this optimal WTVR was found to be able to promote wound healing in a mouse skin wound model. Our finds may be helpful in the design of wound dressing for wound regeneration in the future.