AN ANGIOGENIC AND ANTIBACTERIAL GELMA MICRONEEDLE ARRAY PATCH FOR DIABETIC WOUND HEALING APPLICATIONS

Abstract

Diabetic wounds represent a significant healthcare challenge due to their protracted healing processes and susceptibility to infection. Nitric oxide (NO) and oxygen have emerged as promising therapeutic agents for enhancing wound healing in diabetic patients due to their angiogenic and antibacterial properties respectively. In this study, we developed a GelMA (gelatin methacryloyl) microneedle array patch capable of delivering nitric oxide and oxygen to diabetic wounds simultaneously. Nitric oxide was delivered via S-nitrosoglutathione (GSNO) to promote angiogenesis, while calcium peroxide served as an oxygen-releasing agent to exert antibacterial effects. The developed microneedle (MNs) showed sufficient mechanical strength under compression test indicating a potential candidate for transdermal administration of drugs. In addition, the microneedle array patch demonstrated sustained release of nitric oxide and oxygen over a period of 180 minutes. In vitro Live/Dead assay demonstrated no significant cytotoxicity of blank and dual release GelMA MNs in human dermal fibroblast cell lines. Cell proliferation assay using MTT dye showed enhanced proliferation of cells when treated with dual release MNs samples. Finally, scratch assay performed on same cell lines exhibited enhanced migration when treated with dual release samples compared to control and blank samples. Overall, our findings suggest that the Nitric oxide and oxygen-releasing GelMA microneedle array patch holds great promise as an advanced therapeutic approach for diabetic wound healing, offering a synergistic combination of angiogenic and antibacterial effects to expedite the healing process and mitigate complications associated with diabetic wounds.