Production and application of hydrogel based wound care materials for the treatment of wounds and burns caused by CBRN agents

Chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) defence focuses on protecting individuals and environments from hazardous agents through detection, containment and mitigation strategies. Advanced materials for CBRN agents play an important role in protecting against exposure, neutralising threats and increasing overall resilience. One of these materials is hydrogels used for defence. Hydrogels are important biomaterials because of their good biocompatibility, mechanical properties similar to human soft tissue extracellular matrix, and their tissue repair properties. Hydrogels with antibacterial functions in skin wound repair are particularly suitable for dressing applications, thus, many novel antibacterial hydrogels wound dressings have gained great attention, including component design, preparation method optimization, strategies to reduce bacterial resistance, and so on. In this research, 3 hydrogels were prepared to accelerate the healing of acute wounds. The first of the prepared hydrogels is Graphene oxide-branched polyethyleneimine-silver Nanoparticle (GO-DPEI-AgNP), and the second is Polyvinyl alcohol-silver Nanoparticle (PVA-AgNP) and Cysteine-Silver. The characterization of hydrogels was carried out by SEM, FESEM+EDX, FTIR, XRD, UV-vis. The antibacterial activity of the hydrogels was determined by disc diffusion method using E. coli and S. aureus bacteria. In vitro cytotoxicity study was performed by calculating IC50 value with alamar blue method using keratinocyte HaCaT cell line. In vivo healing potential was investigated by creating excisional wounds in 8-12 week wistar albino rats. Finally, the expression levels of COL1A1, MMP9, VEGFC, PDGFA, TIMP1 genes which are actively involved in wound healing mechanism were analysed by qRT-PCR. The IC50 values of GO-DPEI-AgNP, PVA-AgNP and cysteine-silver hydrogel for HaCaT were 261.1 μg/mL, 1132.1 μg/mL and 1307.0 μg/mL, respectively. At the end of 48 hours for the in vitro wound healing experiment, the wound area was 0.54% in GO-DPEI-AgNP hydrogel and 3.17% in PVA-AgNP hydrogel, while complete closure of the wound site was observed in the cysteine-silver group. GO-DPEI-AgNP hydrogel formed a zone diameter of 7.28 mm for E. coli and 7.30 mm for S. aureus at the end of 24 hours. PVA-AgNP hydrogel formed a zone diameter of 7.37 mm for E. coli and 9.42 mm for S. aureus at the end of 24 hours. Cysteine-silver hydrogel formed a zone diameter of 8.33 mm for E. coli and 8.44 mm for S. aureus at the end of 24 hours. As a result of the in vivo wound healing experiment, the wound site was closed in the rats in the group in which hydrogels were applied on the 14th day. At the end of the 14th day, 91.07% of the wound site was closed in the GO-DPEI-AgNP hydrogel group, 23.39% in the Sham group, 28.63% in the 0.9% NaCI group, 91.24% in the Bepenajel group, 85.92% in the PVA-AgNP group and 80.96% in the cysteine-silver group. In conclusion, the use of hydrogels in acute wound care represents a significant advance and offers the potential for biocompatibility and controlled drug delivery to accelerate healing. As research continues to refine hydrogel formulations and their interactions with complex wound environments, the promise of these biomaterials in clinical settings will become increasingly apparent. However, more extensive clinical studies are required to fully demonstrate their efficacy, optimize their application, and pave the way for their widespread adoption in modern wound management. Keywords: Antibacterial Hydrogel; Cysteine; Graphene Oxide, Silver Nanoprticle, PVA