Copper Nanoparticles in Ch/PLA Dressing Material Promotes Wound Healing

This study focuses on the development and evaluation of polylactic acid-based (PLA) dressing materials enhanced with chitosan (Ch) and impregnated with copper nanoparticles (CuNPs) for wound healing applications. The electrospinning technique was employed to produce the Ch/PLA dressing materials, enabling the integration of CuNPs for enhanced antimicrobial properties. The efficacy of these dressing materials was assessed in an animal model using rats with skin wounds infected by a bacterial mixture (Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Escherichia coli). The experimental results demonstrated that the Ch/PLA dressings with CuNPs exhibited strong antimicrobial activity, promoting more rapid wound healing compared to control dressings without CuNPs. Histological and immunohistochemical analyses showed that the CuNPs-modified dressings not only stimulated an initial pro-inflammatory response characterized by increased recruitment of M1 macrophages but also facilitated a transition to an anti-inflammatory response with a higher proliferation of M2 macrophages, which are crucial for tissue repair and wound healing. These findings suggest that Ch/PLA dressing materials saturated with CuNPs have significant potential for improving wound healing by accelerating the inflammatory response and enhancing antibacterial protection, making them promising candidates for advanced wound care applications.