Open cuts, whether caused by accidents or from medicinal measures like surgery, necessitate proper care to speed up healing and avert infections. Even though sutures and staples are common wound closure procedures, they can cause secondary tissue damages, possibly leaking fluids and gases and needing anesthetics. Tissue adhesive glues are a more attractive substitute but frequently causes toxicity and weak adhesion.
Fortunately, tissue adhesive patches give an innovative solution. They permit accurate control of adhesion and mechanical properties through variable polymeric compositions. These patches can also distribute drugs straight to wounds, enhancing recovery. While current adhesive patches comprising catecholamines such as dopamine (DA) have shown potential, they face challenges due to slow oxidation and weak bonding with the polymer support.
Against this setting, a team of scientists, led by Associate Professor Kyung Min Park of Incheon National University set out to find an effective resolution to these restrictions. As stated in their study, they developed a new approach to produce DA-containing tissue adhesive gelatin hydrogels. Their findings were made accessible online on August 21, 2023, and was published in Volume 266 of the journal on November 1, 2023.
Their method is positioned around the addition of calcium peroxide (CaO2) as an element when formulating the hydrogel solution, giving rise to gelatin-based oxygen-generating tissue adhesives (GOTs). This compound responds easily with water to release molecular oxygen (O2), enabling the oxidation of DA molecules, encouraging DA polymerization and curing of the wound. “Oxygen is a vital metabolic substrate or signaling molecule in the body. In specific, hyperoxia, which basically means high oxygen concentration, has been established to facilitate wound healing procedures and tissue revival by encouraging cell proliferation, blood vessel development, and wound restoration,” explains Dr. Park.
Furthermore, the scientists conducted in vitro and in vivo tests demonstrating that their GOTs enhanced blood closure, coagulation and neovascularization. These GOTs, in addition to their oxygen generation, permitted easy regulation of gelation and mechanical properties, providing strong tissue adhesion in the 15–38 kPa range.
Remarkably, these GOTs signify the first reported bioadhesive, and the primary tissue adhesive material for that matter, that can create oxygen. The research team has high hopes for the possibility of the GOTs to develop a cost-effective solution for wound management in a medical setting. Dr. Park concluded that they would like to follow clinical trials and commercialization of this innovation through follow-up study and eventually contribute to refining the quality of human life by developing next-generation tissue adhesive materials that can be practical to humans.
