Newly designed hydrogel visibly improved wound healing

New hydrogel pad for better healing of chronic wounds
For smaller wounds, it is usually sufficient to stick a plaster on it or to treat it with simple home remedies. However, chronic wounds often do not get very far. In such cases, a new hydrogel, developed by German researchers, could help in the future.

Home remedies for the treatment of simple wounds
After minor injuries one is often advised to try salt, as salt water accelerates wound healing. Some also recommend treating wounds with fresh garlic. And for superficial, slightly oozing and less bleeding wounds, zinc can help to heal better. But in chronic wounds bring home remedies usually nothing more. Maybe a new hydrogel, developed by researchers from Leipzig and Dresden, could possibly help.

For the treatment of chronic wounds simple patches and home remedies are usually not enough. New hydrogel pads developed by German researchers could help here. These can accelerate wound healing. (Image: lirtlon / fotolia.com)

New treatment options for chronic skin wounds
Chronic wounds are when wounds do not heal after several weeks. For example, they may be a sequela of diabetes or circulatory disorders.

Researchers at Leipzig University Medical Center and the Leibniz Institute for Polymer Research Dresden e.V. have now jointly developed and tested hydrogel wound dressings containing glycosaminoglycans, a class of naturally occurring sugar molecules and carbohydrates.

The hydrogels enable the attenuation of inflammatory processes and thus open up new treatment options for chronic skin wounds, according to a statement by the University of Leipzig.

The research results have now been published in the journal "Science Translational Medicine".

Stop immigration of immune cells
"Chronic wounds can not heal as immune cells from the blood continuously enter the wound. With our wound dressing, we wanted to fight the cause and stop the immigration of immune cells, so the wound can close, "Dr. Sandra Franz, working group leader on the Leipzig side.

And this is how it works: The glycosaminoglycans are applied to the wound in a hydrogel. They bind chemokines, which are messenger substances that repeatedly attract immune cells into the inflamed tissue.

However, if the chemokines are bound by the sugar molecules, they no longer work. This prevents the continuous immigration of immune cells and can close the wound.

According to the scientists, wound dressings accelerated healing in an animal model of chronic skin wounds. Further testing of the promising materials could enable their future application in human medicine.

In addition, it is expected that the underlying concept could also be suitable for the treatment of other inflammatory diseases. (Ad)