Novel dextran modified bacterial cellulose hydrogel accelerating cutaneous wound healing

Development of an ideal wound dressing to efficiently improve the wound healing process is an important issue in wound care. The present study aims to develop a dextran/bacterial cellulose (BC) hydrogel and to evaluate its performance in wound healing applications. The assessments include material properties (morphology, thermostability and its mechanical properties), cytotoxicity, cell proliferation and wound healing. The results show that the addition of dextran affected the network structure of BC resulting in decreased decomposition temperature (339–261 °C), water content (98.7–89.2%), and tensile strength (23–0.61 MPa). However, the elongation rates were kept at approximately 33–28% in BC, 10% and 20% in dextran modified groups. Cell-based experiments showed that the dextran-modified BC hydrogel promoted enhanced cell proliferation without cytotoxicity compared to unmodified BC. Finally, the in vivo wound healing test demonstrated that dextran-modified BC hydrogel can accelerate the wound healing process and facilitate skin maturation, which suggests that dextran/BC hydrogel is a promising wound dressing for clinical applications.