Journal of biomaterials science. Polymer editionApr 17, 2025

Developing and testing a multifunctional hydrogel wound dressing with PVP, QCS, and DEX in lab and animal studies

Regenerative Health Weekly Brief ↗PubMed ↗DOI ↗

Updated Mar 31, 2026

Abstract

The developed PVP/QCS/DEX hydrogels exhibited high porosity and water vapor transmission rates, suggesting effective moisture management for wound healing.

The hydrogels demonstrated a uniform and interconnected porous structure, confirmed by scanning electron microscopy.
High water vapor transmission rates indicate the ability of the hydrogels to manage exudate effectively.
Antibacterial tests revealed that the hydrogels have antibacterial activity against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus.
Cytotoxicity evaluations showed that the PVP/QCS/DEX hydrogels support cell viability and exhibit satisfactory cytocompatibility.
Scratch assays indicated that the hydrogels may promote cell migration, potentially accelerating the wound healing process.
Healing tests on drug-loaded hydrogel samples suggested promising performance in enhancing wound healing.

Simplified

Although the skin has a high healing capacity, severe skin wounds often require external interventions to heal properly. Tissue-engineered wound dressings have indeed gained significant attention among various treatment strategies for wound healing. This study focuses on the integration of polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP), quaternized chitosan (QCS), and dextran (DEX) to prepare a ternary composite (PVP/QCS/DEX) as a wound dressing hydrogels with varying concentration of PVP and DEX. A variety of analytical methods, including infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), contact angle, and water vapor transmission rate (WVTR) were employed to assess the characteristics of the samples. The uniform and interconnected porous structure of the samples was confirmed by the SEM results. All the samples showed high porosity and water vapor transition rate, demonstrating their ability to provide a suitable moist environment and efficient exudate handling for wound healing. The antibacterial test conducted on hydrogels demonstrated the antibacterial activity of hydrogels and drug-loaded hydrogel samples includingand. Thecytotoxicity evaluation using the MTT assay demonstrated that the developed PVP/QCS/DEX hydrogels exhibit satisfactory cytocompatibility and promote cell viability. The results of the scratch assay indicated that the samples had promoted the cell migration and would improve and accelerate wound healing process. Thehealing tests conducted by the drug-loaded hydrogel sample revealed a promising healing performance. Therefore, based on the favorable performance observed throughout the various tests and analysis, the as-prepared PVP/QCS/DEX hydrogels show significant promise in the field of wound dressings. Escherichia coli Staphylococcus aureus in vitro in vivo

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Developing and testing a multifunctional hydrogel wound dressing with PVP, QCS, and DEX in lab and animal studies

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