Quaternary ammonium grafted chitosan hydrogel with enhanced antibacterial performance as tannin acid and deferoxamine carrier to promote diabetic wound healing

The delay of diabetic wound healing puts a huge burden on the society. The key factors hindering wound healing include bacterial infection, unresolved inflammation and poorly generated blood vessels. In this paper, glycidyl trimethyl ammonium chloride (GTA) was grafted to chitosan (CS) to obtain quaternary ammonium grafted chitosan (QCS) with enhanced antibacterial performance, and then cross-linked by dialdehyde terminated poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO DA) to construct QCS/PEO DA hydrogel with tissue adhesion, biodegradation and self-healing properties. The QCS/PEO DA hydrogel is loaded with tannin acid (TA) and deferoxamine (DFO) to enhance antioxidant property and angiogenesis. At the same time, the TA and DFO loaded TA@DFO/hydrogel preserved the biocompatibility and biodegradability of chitosan. Moreover, the multifunctional hydrogel behaved excellent hemostatic properties in mice model and significantly promoted the healing efficacy of diabetic wounds. Overall, the TA@DFO/hydrogel is promising anti-infection dressing material for diabetic wound healing.