Preparation and characterization of advancing wound care with PVP/QCS/DEX hydrogels: a multifunctional wound dressing composite: <i>in vitro</i> and <i>in vivo</i> assay

Although the skin has a high healing capacity, severe skin wounds often require external interventions to heal properly. Tissue-engineered wound dressings have indeed gained significant attention among various treatment strategies for wound healing. This study focuses on the integration of polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP), quaternized chitosan (QCS), and dextran (DEX) to prepare a ternary composite (PVP/QCS/DEX) as a wound dressing hydrogels with varying concentration of PVP and DEX. A variety of analytical methods, including infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), contact angle, and water vapor transmission rate (WVTR) were employed to assess the characteristics of the samples. The uniform and interconnected porous structure of the samples was confirmed by the SEM results. All the samples showed high porosity and water vapor transition rate, demonstrating their ability to provide a suitable moist environment and efficient exudate handling for wound healing. The antibacterial test conducted on hydrogels demonstrated the antibacterial activity of hydrogels and drug-loaded hydrogel samples including <i>Escherichia coli</i> and <i>Staphylococcus aureus</i>. The <i>in vitro</i> cytotoxicity evaluation using the MTT assay demonstrated that the developed PVP/QCS/DEX hydrogels exhibit satisfactory cytocompatibility and promote cell viability. The results of the scratch assay indicated that the samples had promoted the cell migration and would improve and accelerate wound healing process. The <i>in vivo</i> healing tests conducted by the drug-loaded hydrogel sample revealed a promising healing performance. Therefore, based on the favorable performance observed throughout the various tests and analysis, the as-prepared PVP/QCS/DEX hydrogels show significant promise in the field of wound dressings.