A quarter of people with diabetes develop foot ulcers, which are slow to heal due to hypoxic conditions in the wound from impaired blood vessels and increased inflammation. These wounds can become chronic, leading to poor quality of life and possibly amputation.
Jianjun Guan, professor of mechanical engineering and materials science at the McKelvey School of Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis, has developed a hydrogel that delivers oxygen to a wound and decreases inflammation, helps to remodel tissue and speeds up healing. The results are published in Science Advances.
Prof Guan’s new hydrogel uses microspheres to gradually release oxygen to interact with the cells by means of an enzyme coating that converts the microsphere’s contents into oxygen. In this way, the hydrogel delivers oxygen over two weeks, reducing inflammation and promoting healing.
“The oxygen has two roles: one, to improve skin cell survival under the low-oxygen condition of the diabetic wound; and two, oxygen can stimulate the skin cells to produce growth factors necessary for wound repair,” Prof Guan said.
