Phytic acid-loaded polyvinyl alcohol hydrogels promotes wound healing of injured corneal epithelium through inhibiting ferroptosis

As the important barrier of intraocular tissue, cornea is easy to suffer various kinds of injuries. Among them, acute alkali burn is a thorny ophthalmic emergency event, which can lead to corneal persistent epithelial defects, ulcers, and even perforation. Ferroptosis, a mode of regulatory cell death, has been found to play a key role in the process of corneal alkali burn, of which lipid peroxidation and intracellular iron levels are considered to be the possible therapeutic targets. To seek new effective treatments, the study herein focused on the occurrence of oxidative stress and ferroptosis in corneal alkali burn, exploring the role of phytic acid (PA), a natural small molecule with both antioxidant and iron chelating capacity, in the repair of corneal epithelial injury. The in vivo therapeutic results showed that PA eyedrops treatment promoted the recovery of corneal morphology and function, and in vitro experiments proved that PA prompted the repair of oxidative stress induced-corneal epithelial injury through ferroptosis inhibition. In addition, better drug treatment effect could be achieved through hydrogel delivery and sustained release, and our in vivo experiments showed the superior therapeutic effects of PA delivered by PVA hydrogels with larger molecular weights on corneal injury. In summary, this study demonstrated the excellent effect of natural small molecule PA with antioxidant and high efficiency chelating ferrous ions on ferroptosis inhibition, and showed the outstanding application prospect of PVA/PA hydrogels in the treatment of corneal epithelial injury.