Design and evaluation of new wound dressings based on collagen-cellulose derivatives

The purpose of this research was to design and characterize new hydrogels, respectively, their lyophilized forms, spongious matrices, based on collagen and methylcellulose or hydroxyethylcellulose to be used as wound dressings. 1.1% collagen gel was blended with 3% cellulose ethers gels in different ratios. To design the new potential dressings, we evaluated the compatibility of biopolymers through rheological and spectroscopic analyses for hydrogels, respectively spectral, morphological, goniometric, enzymatic, and thermal stability. Rheological measurements indicated that all hydrogels were pseudoplastic, a required property for their manipulation and application. Spectroscopic and spectral analyses showed the conservation of the specific triple helix structure of collagen for samples with 30% cellulose ethers. The morphological evaluation demonstrated that matrices presented hydrophilic and porous structures with proper swelling ability. The thermal and biodegradation study illustrated the increase of matrices’ stability with the addition of cellulose ethers gels. Biocompatibility tests showed that none of the tested matrices had any cytotoxic effect and some compositions of collagen and methylcellulose or hydroxyethylcellulose release factors that might promote fibroblasts’ proliferation and had no inhibitor effect on fibroblasts migration ability; all these results guarantee the development of a promising wound dressing based on 70% collagen gel and 30% cellulose ethers gels.