Wound dressings that can simultaneously treat bacterial infections and various bleeding complications are highly desirable in clinics. Moreover, multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacterial infection has posed another great challenge for clinical wound care, as there are fewer effective antimicrobial agents available for killing these bacteria. To meet the clinical need, serials of polysaccharide-peptide cryogels have been developed with excellent antibacterial efficacy and hemostatic property. With glycol chitosan (GC) and ε-poly lysine (EPL) as the major components, the cryogels yield significantly lower amounts of blood loss compared with commercially available hemostatic dressings. The incorporation of EPL significantly enhances the antibacterial activity including killing MDR bacteria capacity and prevents the bacterial infection of skin wounds. The cryogel treated wounds demonstrate significantly higher healing efficiency compared to the controlled MDR bacteria infected wounds. The GC-EPL polysaccharide-peptide cryogels may become competitive multifunctional wound dressings for bleeding control and bacteria-infected wound healing.
Keywords: antibacterial; hemostasis; hydrogels; macroporous; wound healing.
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