3D-printed biopolymer matrices for the vehiculization and controlled release of octenidine in wound antibiotic therapy

RIVERO BERTI, IGNACIO; HORUE, MANUEL; BOZTEPE, TUGCE; CALDERÓN, MARCELO; MENGATTO, LUCIANO; GEHRING, STEPHAN; KATZ, SERGIO; ISLAN, GERMÁN; KARP, FEDERICO

JOURNAL OF DRUG DELIVERY SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

EDITIONS SANTE

Año: 2025 vol. 114

1773-2247

Chronic and acute wounds are important health system problems due to re-hospitalization rates and treatmentengagement. Antibiotic-controlled release systems can be a relevant solution for generating long-term therapieswithout patient intervention. The present work investigated pH-sensitive biopolymeric systems obtained byextrusion-based 3D printing. Alginate and carboxymethyl chitosan were used as matrix polymers for ink pro-duction, while octenidine was the vehiculized antibiotic. Different polymer proportions were explored to eval-uate the release mechanism in response to different pH environments. Physicochemical characterization wasperformed using infrared spectrometry (FTIR) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). Detailed photography wasused to determine 3D-printing fidelity. SEM images were used for the morphological characterization. Swellingand octenidine release profiles were evaluated in different non-chelating buffers. After the print’s crosslinkingbath, the obtained encapsulation efficiency was 100 %. The printing fidelity was in the order of 0.9–1.8. Swellingstudies showed that some formulations lost weight, whereas others increased by 400 %. After 7 days, the drugreleased was 20–85 %, depending on the polymer composition and buffer/pH environment. All the prints pre-sented antimicrobial capacity against Staphylococcus aureus. The present work demonstrates the potential ofbiopolymeric 3D-printed systems as advanced wound dressings, combining pH-responsive antibiotic release andantimicrobial activity with the adaptive design capabilities of 3D printing, offering a versatile platform forpersonalized wound-healing therapies.