Functional hydroxypropyl methyl cellulose-based thermosensitive hydrogels: Biomineralization, procoagulant and antibacterial properties

Abstract

Functional composite hydrogels with antibacterial, biomineralization and hemostatic properties are prepared based on thermosensitive hydrogel composed of hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC), hyaluronic acid (HA), and glycerol (Gl) as matrix (HHG) and incorporation of copper‑iron layered double hydroxides (CuFe-LDH) as an antimicrobial agent, hydroxyapatite (HAP) as a bone-inductive component or carboxymethyl chitosan powder (CMCS) as the natural hemostatic. The HHG/CuFe-LDH/HAP composite hydrogels significantly reduced the gelation time of pure HHG hydrogel to 5 min and exhibited excellent biomineralization activity and significantly antibacterial efficacy against S. aureus and E. coli even at a CuFe-LDH/HAP content of as low as 0.1 % (w/v). Among the three formulations with varying CuFe-LDH/HAP ratios, HHG/CuFe-LDH/HAP-1 demonstrated the most favorable overall performance. Furthermore, HHG/CuFe-LDH/CMCS composite hydrogel effectively promoted both extrinsic and intrinsic coagulation pathways, demonstrating rapid and efficient hemostatic capabilities in addition to its excellent antibacterial activity. These findings suggest that both HHG/CuFe-LDH/HAP and HHG/CuFe-LDH/CMCS-based thermo-sensitive hydrogels with multifunctional properties are promising biomaterials for biomedical applications in injectable dental fillers, oral tissue repair, infection control and wound dressings, presents a promising strategy for developing novel hydrogels with multifunctionality.