Acetyl amine xanthan gum-based silver and molecular Iodine nanocomposite for wound healing therapy

Wound healing is the process of repairmen and restoration of structure and function of an injured tissue or skin. It is a complex process and requires safe and effective treatment modalities. Various plant and chemical entities are used in wound management. Iodine is one of them, and a Povidone-Iodine formulation is commonly applied for healing wounds. Silver Nanoparticles have been found to be a powerful weapon against various bacteria, therefore it is also used in wound therapy. In this research, modified xanthan gum (MXG) based hydrogels of molecular iodine and nano silver were prepared and applied on rats in order to measure wound healing activity. Marketed Iodine-povidone gel was employed as positive control and placebo was negative control. The excision wound model as per OECD guideline 434 was implemented in this study. By tracing the wound on different days, the wound closure rates were assessed. According to our experimental results, the iodine-silver nanocomposite treated group was found to show significant wound closure activity on day 16, and there was no significant differences observed in wound healing activity between marked Iodine-povidone gel and MXG based hydrogel of iodine. However, significant differences between negative control group and test groups animals were observed. Wound closure of the negative control group was observed on day 24, whereas the group containing only iodine showed closer on day 20. We also noted that the nanocomposite demonstrated significant antimicrobial activity against gram -ive bacteria and gram +ive bacteria. Thus, the gel formulation revealed significant wound healing and antibacterial activity due to the additive effect of molecular iodine & Ag++ nanoparticles. In this experiment, synthesis of Ag++ nanoparticles and its gel with iodine using modified xanthan gum was successfully formulated. Iodine-Ag NPs gel are more sensitive to gram -ve bacteria and our work demonstrated that this showed faster wound repair and shorter period of epithelization. It can be concluded that modified xanthan gum (MXG) based hydrogel of molecular iodine and nano silver can be effectively used in the treatment of wounds.