Honey/PVA hybrid wound dressings with controlled release of antibiotics: Structural, physico-mechanical and in-vitro biomedical studies

•High honey-concentrated PVA film was introduced in the presence of borax as a crosslinking agent.•Borax contribution led to sustained release of honey in the wound bed that forms a thin protecting layer.•In spite of using high concentration of honey in honey/PVA-borax hybrid, burst release of antibiotic wasn't seen.•The optimal concentration of borax enhanced mechanical stability and prevented network degradation during swelling process.

Hydrogel/honey hybrids manifest an attractive design with an exclusive therapeutic property that promotes wound healing process. The greater the concentration of honey within the formulation, the better the biomedical properties that will be achieved. However, an increase in the percentage of honey can negatively affect the physico-chemical and mechanical properties of hybrid hydrogels. The need exists, therefore, to prepare wound dressings that contain high honey density with optimal biomedical, mechanical and physicochemical properties. In this study, a simple method for the preparation of a highly concentrated honey/PVA hybrid hydrogel with borax as the crosslinking agent is reported. Comprehensive evaluations of the morphology, swelling kinetics, permeability, bio-adhesion, mechanical characteristics, cytotoxicity, antibacterial property, cell proliferation ability and their controlling release properties were conducted as a function of crosslinking density. All the borax-induced hydrogels showed acceptable biocompatibility, and the incorporation of 1% borax in the hydrogel formulation produced optimal behaviours for wound addressing applications.