Quaternary ammonium-pullulan derivatives as antibacterial and hemostatic agents

Uncontrolled bleeding remains a critical challenge in trauma care. In this study, quaternized pullulan (QP) was developed as a hemostatic agent with enhanced antibacterial activity. QP was synthesized by grafting 2,3-epoxypropyltrimethylammonium chloride onto pullulan, achieving a degree of substitution of 0.305 and a zeta potential of +29.1 mV. In vitro, QP reduced the blood coagulation index to 5.59%, with erythrocyte and platelet adhesion rates of 63.51% and 72.31%, respectively. This material demonstrated strong antibacterial effects against E. coli and S. aureus . Compared with the controls, QP significantly reduced bleeding time and blood loss in vivo, and it exhibited good coagulation ability and better hemostatic ability than medical gauze, gelatin, chitosan, and pullulan. QP is a promising, safe hemostatic material for clinical applications. Although QP demonstrates excellent hemostatic and antibacterial properties, future studies should focus on its scalability for clinical translation.