Polyurethane foam containing rhEGF as a dressing material for healing diabetic wounds: Synthesis, characterization, in vitro and in vivo studies

• Polyurethane foams containing rhEGF (PUFs-rhEGF) was developed and characterized.
• PUFs-rhEGF exhibited sustained release of rhEGF.
• PUFs-rhEGF enhanced the cell proliferation rate in human keratinocyte cells.
• PUFs-rhEGF exposed cells exhibited higher scratch wound healing rate.
• PUFs-rhEGF treated diabetic SD rats showed complete wound closure.

Diabetic wounds are a major health issue associated with diabetes mellitus. To surmount this issue, we developed polyurethane foams (PUFs) incorporating varying amounts of recombinant human epidermal growth factor (rhEGF) (rhEGF-PUFs) as a wound dressing for diabetic wounds. From electron microscopy images, it was found that the pore size of the rhEGF-PUFs surface (the wound contact layer) was less than 100 μm, regardless of rhEGF content. The release of rhEGF from the PUFs was evaluated using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The result showed that the release of rhEGF was time and concentration dependent, i.e., the amount of released rhEGF significantly increased as the immersion time and the rhEGF content of the PUFs increased. In vitro cytotoxicity testing showed that rhEGF-PUFs increased the viability of HaCaT human keratinocytes and CCD986-sk human fibroblasts, which indicated that the incorporated rhEGF maintained its biological activity. In an in vitro scratch wound healing assay, the wound closure rate was faster in CCD986-sk human fibroblasts than in HaCaT human keratinocytes. Finally, the rhEGF-PUFs were evaluated as an in vivo treatment in a full-thickness wound model in diabetized Sprague-Dawley rats. The result indicated that compared with PUFs, rhEGF-PUFs accelerated wound healing by promoting wound contraction, re-epithelialization, collagen deposition and the formation of a skin appendage. These findings demonstrate that rhEGF-PUFs are a promising dressing for diabetic wounds.

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