A ROS balance system with medication and photothermal therapy ability for burn treatment

In burns, reactive oxygen species (ROS) imbalance can lead to elevated oxidative damage and increase the difficulty of skin repair. However, rough removal of ROS will inevitably affect its' normal physiological function, leading to antibacterial failure and slow wound healing. To solve this problem, we developed a multifunctional AC-AuLA supramolecular polymer by combining medication therapy of asiaticoside (AC), photothermal therapy (PTT) of gold nanostars (AuNSs), and ROS-mediated of α-lipoic acid (LA). The AC-AuLA could create a normal ROS microenvironment for burns by regulating the balance between oxidants and antioxidants. At the same time, the AuNSs endow AC-AuLA with an excellent antibacterial effect, and the AC of AC-AuLA can promote wound repair through robust cell proliferation and angiogenesis. Importantly, in burn models infected with S. aureus, AC-AuLA achieves dense vascular formation and uniform collagen alignment, accelerating wound closure. These results indicate that this novel redox-sensitive supramolecular polymer has a broad application prospect in burn wound repair platforms.