Preparation and characterization of propolis reinforced eggshell membrane/ GelMA composite hydrogel for biomedical applications

Development of collagen-chitosan dressing gel functionalized with propolis-zinc oxide nanoarchitectonics to accelerate wound healing

Using an in situ sol-gel technique, new nanoarchitectonics of propolis loaded zinc oxide nanoarchitectonics (PP/ZnO-NPs) were developed in order to improve the in vivo outcomes of collagen-chitosan gel in wounded rats. The obtained nanoarchitectonics were fully characterized. The XRD results indicate the presence of a Zincite phase for ZnO-NPs and Zincite accompanied by a minor amount of zinc hydroxide for PP/ZnO-NPs samples. While the TEM findings illustrate the transfer of the ZnO-NPs from agglomerated spheres with an average particle size of 230 ± 29 nm to needle-like NPs of 323 ± 173 nm length (PP1/ZnO-NPs) and to a sheet-like NPs of 500 ± 173 nm diameter (PP2/ZnO-NPs). In addition, the incorporation of PP results in an increase in the surface negativity of ZnO-NPs to -31.4 ± 6.4 mV for PP2/ZnO-NPs. The antimicrobial activities of the nanocomposite gel loaded with 10%PP1/ZnO-NPs (G6) revealed the highest inhibition zone against E. coli (26 ± 2.31 mm). Remarkably, the in vivo outcomes showed that the nanocomposite gel (G6) has exceptional collagen deposition, quick wound closure rates, and re-epithelization. The outcomes demonstrate the nanocomposite gel encouraging biological properties for the treatment of damaged and infected wounds.

Preparation and in vitro evaluation of biological agents based on Zinc-laponite- curcumin incorporated in alginate hydrogel

Due to their outstanding structures and properties, three-dimensional (3D) hydrogels and nanoparticles have been widely studied and indicated a very high potential for medical, therapeutic, and diagnostic applications. However, hydrogels and nanoparticles systems have particular drawbacks that limit their widespread applications. In recent years, the incorporation of nanostructured systems into hydrogel has been developed as a novel way for the formation of new biomaterials with various functions to solve biomedical challenges. In this study, alginate-loaded Zinc- laponite-curcumin (Zn/La/Cur) nanocomposites were fabricated via ionic cross-linking. The prepared nanocomposite hydrogels were characterized via FTIR and FE-SEM. Moreover, energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDX) was used to study the elements of the Zn/La/Cur nanocomposite. The NIH3T3 fibroblast cell line was utilized for the MTT assay to determine the cell viability of the fabricated alginate-loaded Zn/La/Cur nanocomposites. MTT results demonstrated that there was no evidence of toxicity in the samples. These outcomes suggest that applying Al/Zn/La/Cur nanocomposite as a biological agent could be a novel tissue engineering strategy for treating soft tissue disorders.