Facile fabrication of antioxidative and antibacterial hydrogel films to accelerate infected diabetic wound healing

Diabetic wounds are accompanied with hemorrhage, excessive reactive oxygen species accumulation, microbial infection, and poor exudate management. Current dressings are insufficient to modulate the complex pathophysiological microenvironment of infected diabetic wounds. Here, we develop a facile-fabricated hydrogel film with potent antibacterial and antioxidative properties to significantly accelerate infected diabetic wounds healing. The hydrogel film demonstrates potent antibacterial efficacy against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli , efficient scavenging of the extra- and intracellular reactive oxygen species, and enhanced fibroblast migration. In the methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infected diabetic wounds model, the hydrogel film treatment leads to reduced methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus load, eliminated exudate accumulation, and significantly accelerated wound healing. In addition, the hydrogel film achieves rapid hemostasis by effective wound adhesion and fluid absorption. Collectively, this study provides a promising therapeutic option to promote infected diabetic wounds healing and management. This study developed a dynamically crosslinked hydrogel film integrating 4-armed PEG, tannic acid, and β-peptide polymer, enabling rapid fabrication with ROS-scavenging and antimicrobial efficacy. The hydrogel film demonstrated great potential in alleviating oxidative damage, combating with infections, managing exudate and achieving rapid hemostasis in vivo, which suggests that a promising dressing in promoting infected diabetic wound healing. • Hydrogel film dressing enables potent and broad-spectrum antibacterial activity. • Hydrogel film dressing enables efficient ROS scavenging ability. • Hydrogel film dressing enables rapid hemostatic and exudate-absorbing performance. • Hydrogel film dressing promotes infected diabetic wound healing. • Mimic of host defense peptides (HDPs) and tannic acid (TA) incorporation.