An Injectable Curcumin-Releasing Organohydrogel with Non-Drying Property and High Mechanical Stability at Low-Temperature for Expedited Skin Wound Care

Although hydrogels have demonstrated great potential as new wound dressing materials, their instability in shape and/or mechanical characteristics due to water loss or freezing remains a shortcoming for wound care application. Herein, a novel injectable organohydrogel (IOH) of physically crosslinked polyvinyl alco-hol/glycerol that possesses non-drying capability and high stability at low temperature was developed for wound care. IOH has a skin-like stiffness ( G??? , ???280 Pa), high injectability, self-healing capability, high water-vapor transmission rate, and bacterial inhibitory effect. IOH exhibits high shape and mechanical stabilities after curing at 37 ??C and 50% relative humidity for 7 days or after curing at ???20 ??C for 1 day. In addition, glycerol in IOH enabled an efficient loading and release of water-insoluble curcumin, a well-known anti-bacterial and anti-inflammation drug. The curcumin-releasing IOH (Cur-IOH) demonstrated significantly enhanced anti-bacterial performance compared to IOH or curcumin-loading polyvinyl alco-hol hydrogel. More importantly, Cur-IOH could accelerate wound healing in a murine full-thickness skin defect wound model, revealing improved wound contraction, collagen deposition, angiogenesis, and epi-dermis formation. This study demonstrates the great potential of organohydrogel for the reparation of severe wounds and Cur-IOH as a new type of injectable wound healing material. ?? 2022 Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of The editorial office of Journal of Materials Science & Technology.