Rational design of porous structure-based sodium alginate/chitosan sponges loaded with green synthesized hybrid antibacterial agents for infected wound healing

An ideal wound dressing should have excellent antimicrobial properties and provide a suitable microenviron-ment for regenerating damaged skin tissue. In this study, we utilized sericin to biosynthesize silver nanoparticles in situ and introduced curcumin to obtain Sericin-AgNPs/Curcumin (Se-Ag/Cur) antimicrobial agent. The hybrid antimicrobial agent was then encapsulated in a physically double cross-linking 3D structure network (Sodium alginate-Chitosan, SC) to obtain the SC/Se-Ag/Cur composite sponge. The 3D structural networks were con-structed through electrostatic interactions between sodium alginate and chitosan and ionic interactions between sodium alginate and calcium ions. The prepared composite sponges have excellent hygroscopicity (contact angle 51.3 degrees +/- 5.6 degrees), moisture retention ability, porosity (67.32 % +/- 3.37 %), and mechanical properties (>0.7 MPa) and exhibit good antibacterial ability against Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa) and Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus). In addition, in vivo experiments have shown that the composite sponge promotes epithelial regen-eration and collagen deposition in wounds infected with S. aureus or P. aeruginosa. Tissue immunofluorescence staining analysis confirmed that the SC/Se-Ag/Cur complex sponge stimulated upregulated expression of CD31 to promote angiogenesis while downregulating TNF-alpha expression to reduce inflammation. These advantages make it an ideal candidate for infectious wound repair materials, providing an effective repair strategy for clinical skin trauma infections.

Automated summary

In this study, sericin was used to synthesize silver nanoparticles and curcumin was introduced to obtain a hybrid antimicrobial agent. The antimicrobial agent was then encapsulated in a double cross-linking 3D structure network to create a composite sponge with excellent properties. The composite sponge showed good antibacterial ability, promoted wound healing, and reduced inflammation, making it a promising material for infectious wound repair.