International journal of pharmaceuticsSep 26, 2025

A new fast-acting skin dressing using sodium alginate and graphene oxide hydrogel to speed up wound healing

Regenerative Health Weekly Brief ↗PubMed ↗DOI ↗

Updated Jan 7, 2026

Abstract

The hydrogel demonstrated complete wound healing within 16 days in in vivo studies.

An alginate-graphene oxide-mupirocin bionanocomposite hydrogel was developed to aid wound healing and provide antibacterial protection.
The hydrogel maintained structural stability over a six-month storage period and exhibited a highly porous structure suitable for drug loading.
Sustained drug release was observed for up to 52 hours, contributing to its antibacterial effectiveness.
In vitro tests showed significant inhibition of Staphylococcus aureus growth, indicating strong antibacterial properties.
Biocompatibility was confirmed through cell viability testing on mouse and human fibroblasts, and hemocompatibility was demonstrated via hemolysis tests.
In vivo results indicated marked improvement in wound closure and tissue regeneration, with reduced inflammation.

Simplified

Wound management remains challenging due to the complex and multi-stage nature of healing process, making the selection of appropriate dressings critical for preventing infection and promoting tissue regeneration. In this study, an alginate-graphene oxide-mupirocin bionanocomposite hydrogel was developed as a multifunctional skin dressing to accelerate wound healing and provide antibacterial protection. The process involved the synthesis of graphene oxide followed by the preparation of graphene oxide and mupirocin-loaded sodium alginate hydrogels. Comprehensive structural characterizations were carried out using DLS, FTIR, FE-SEM, XRD, and TGA techniques. The hydrogel exhibited a highly porous structure, favorable for drug loading and water uptake, and demonstrated structural stability over a six-month storage period. Physicochemical and biological properties including swelling behavior, mechanical integrity, sustained drug release (up to 52 h), antibacterial activity, hemocompatibility, and cytocompatibility were systematically evaluated. The hydrogel effectively inhibited Staphylococcus aureus growth in vitro. Biocompatibility was confirmed through cell viability assays using L929 mouse fibroblasts and HU02 human fibroblasts, while hemocompatibility was assessed via hemolysis testing. In vivo studies demonstrated that the hydrogel markedly enhanced wound closure, attenuated inflammation, and facilitated tissue regeneration, resulting in complete healing within 16 days. These results highlight the potential of this bionanocomposite hydrogel as a promising platform for advanced wound care applications.

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Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

PubMed

A new fast-acting skin dressing using sodium alginate and graphene oxide hydrogel to speed up wound healing

Abstract

Full Text

Funding

Competing interests

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Abstract

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