(360c) Polyamine Based Antibacterial Gels for Wound Dressing Applications

Hydrogel based wound dressing materials have attracted greater attention because of their ability to deliver antibacterial agents to the wound site and the ability to keep wound area moist for rapid healing. Though delivery of antibacterial agents through hydrogel loading is promising, there exist many concerns about the drug release to wound site. To address the existing limitation in the present study, we designed and developed antibacterial gels based on the polyamines and diglycidyl ethers. Hydrogels were synthesized by the ring opening polymerization between the amine groups of polyamines and epoxide groups of diglycidyl ethers. Hydrogels were characterized in terms of their swelling ratios, mechanical properties and morphology. With increasing degree of cross-linking in the hydrogel network, a decrease in equilibrium swelling ratios was noticed. Mechanical properties and internal morphology of hydrogel network was dependent on degree of cross-linking (DC). Hydrogels with high DC exhibited higher storage modulus and smaller pore size. Antibacterial nature of hydrogels was investigated and compared to agar gels against different bacterial strains. Results of antibacterial study revealed that the newly developed hydrogels are efficient in inhibiting bacterial growth. The bacteria growth inhibition may be attributed to the diffusion of polyamines from the hydrogel to the culture medium. Biocompatability studies revealed that these gel exhibit minimal toxicity to the NIH3T3 murine fibroblast cells. These preliminary studies indicate that these hydrogels have promising potential as wound dressing materials owing to their antibacterial property.