Enhanced Carboxymethylcellulose-Based Hydrogels by Curcumin-Loaded Microcapsules for Promoting Wound Healing

As outstanding natural materials, polysaccharide materials have attracted extensive research attention in the field of biomedical materials due to their nontoxicity, biocompatibility, and biodegradability. In this study, carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) was used to develop a wound dressing hydrogel (RSMCs@CUR/CMC hydrogels) based on photo-cross-linking and a microcapsule platform (RSMCs@CUR) with curcumin to achieve quick healing of skin wounds. The combination of RSMCs@CUR and CMC hydrogels can significantly improve the mechanical properties, stability, and antibacterial properties of hydrogels. RSMCs@CUR/CMC hydrogels can possess a compressive strength of 5.3 MPa and a tensile strength of 2.5 MPa. Compared to CMC hydrogels, antibacterial properties were significantly improved. Thus, RSMCs@CUR/CMC hydrogels provided continuous drug release in different pH environments, which can suit different periods during the wound healing process. The accumulated drug release percentage of a hydrogel can reach 24.37% in a phosphate-buffered solution (PBS). Hydrogels also exhibited good biocompatibility. The cell viability remained above 90% when cultured with NIH 3T3 cells. The wound dressing hydrogel also reduced inflammation and prevented wound infection. The RSMCs@CUR/CMC hydrogel can significantly improve the wound healing rate; the wound contraction rate was about 98.9% on the 14th day.