Ionic Complexation improves wound healing in deep second-degree burns and reduces in vitro ciprofloxacin cytotoxicity in fibroblasts

GUZMAN, MARÍA LAURA ; LAINO, CARLOS ; GENTI-RAIMONDI, SUSANA; FLORES-MARTIN, JESICA; SORIA, ELIO ANDRÉS ; OLIVERA, MARÍA EUGENIA ; SÁNCHEZ, MARÍA FLORENCIA ; CRUZ DEL PUERTO, MARIANO; DONADIO, ANA CAROLINA

Scientific reports

Springer Nature

Lugar: Berlín; Año: 2022 vol. 12

The development of new treatments capable of controlling infections and pain related to burnscontinues to be a challenge. Antimicrobials are necessary tools, but these can be cytotoxic forregenerating cells. In this study, antibiotic-anesthetic (AA) smart systems obtained by ioniccomplexation of polyelectrolytes with ciprofloxacin and lidocaine were obtained as films andhydrogels. Ionic complexation with sodium alginate and hyaluronate decreased cytotoxicity ofciprofloxacin above 70% in a primary culture of isolated fibroblasts (p < 0.05). In addition, the relative levels of the proteins involved in cell migration, integrin β1 and p-FAK, increased above 1.5 times (p < 0.05) with no significant differences in cell mobility. Evaluation of the systems in a deep seconddegree burn model revealed that reepithelization rate was AA-films = AA-hydrogels > control films > no treated > reference cream (silver sulfadiazine cream). In addition, appendage conservation and complete dermis organization were achieved in AA-films and AA-hydrogels. Encouragingly, both the films and the hydrogels showed a significantly superior performance compared to the reference treatment. This work highlights the great potential of this smart system as an attractive dressing for burns, which surpasses currently available treatments.