Composite bacterial cellulose (BC) based hydrogel with alginate (A) or pectin (P) or alginate and pectin was fabricated via a physical crosslinking technique using calcium chloride (CaCl2) solution and incorporated with polyhexamethylene biguanide (PHMB) as an effective antimicrobial drug by immersion method. After that, the physicochemical properties of all hydrogel formulations were characterized. The result showed that the formulations with PHMB performed better physicochemical properties than the hydrogel without PHMB. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) showed the interaction between PHMB and the carboxylic group of alginate and pectin. BC/A-PHMB hydrogel performed suitable mechanical strength, fluid uptake ability, water retention property, drug content, high integrity value, and maximum swelling degree. Moreover, in vitro cell viability of BC/A-PHMB hydrogel revealed high biocompatibility with human keratinocyte cell line (HaCaT) and demonstrated prolong released of PHMB in Tris-HCl buffer pH 7.4, while rapid release in phosphate buffer saline pH 7.4. BC/A-PHMB hydrogel demonstrated good anti-bacterial activity against S. aureus and P. aeruginosa. In conclusion, BC/A-PHMB hydrogel could be a potential dual crosslinked ion-based hydrogel for wound dressing with anti-bacterial activity.
Keywords: alginate; bacterial cellulose; crosslinking; hydrogel; pectin.