Preclinical model of Echinacea-functionalized silk fibroin-chitosan transparent membranes with enhanced hair follicle regeneration and antibacterial properties for wound healing.

INTRODUCTION

Skin serves as a crucial barrier that separates the human body from the external environment. Its complex structure can make it susceptible to microbial infection and bleeding, leading to poor wound healing. Therefore, it is of important clinical significance to develop a wound dressing that can form scarless tissues with hair follicles, inhibit bacterial infection, and promote hemostasis.

METHODS

In this study, we constructed composite dressings based on Echinacea-loaded silk fibroin/chitosan (ESC) that had excellent mechanical properties and air permeability for the promotion of hair follicle regeneration and scarless wound healing. Additionally, the transparency of ESC facilitated observation of the wound healing process.

RESULTS

ESC exhibits superior biocompatibility that effectively alleviates inflammatory reactions in wounds. In vitro assays showed that ESC has excellent tissue adhesion and hemostatic abilities. In vivo wound healing assays comparing SF-CS and commercial Tegaderm™ Film groups showed that ESC could accelerate wound angiogenesis, collagen deposition, keratinocyte proliferation, macrophage M1-M2 transition, and inhibit inflammation, indicating effective promotion of scarless skin regeneration.

DISCUSSION: These transparent dressings based on natural materials show great potential for scarless skin regeneration and treating acute injury hemostasis.