Laser-facilitated peroxidase-like hydrogel with simultaneous wound infection monitoring and eliminating

Abstract

Clinically, despite tremendous efforts having been devoted to preventing the invasive bacterial infection in acute and chronic wounds, the abuse or excessive use of antibacterial agents still poses great hurdles for wound management, which significantly raises the risk of detrimental side-effects and complications in the wound disinfection. Herein, we develop a hydrogel dressing of MPAH to attain real-time infection monitoring and on-demand antibacterial therapy. In this scenario, we propose a creative strategy of applying laser-facilitated MPAH photodecomposition of H₂O₂ to trigger the burst release of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and thus eliminate bacteria. Taking advantage of the visible indication of pH variability and laser-mediated ROS burst release, MPAH permits real-time monitoring of wound infection status and simultaneously endows it with superior on-demand antibacterial activity at a low H₂O₂ dosage. Beyond that, MPAH also provides a favorable healing environment synergistically promotes wound closure and re-epithelialization. With these merits, MPAH presents a vast potential for wound disinfection and simultaneously addresses the histotoxicity issues of routinely used medical H₂O₂ (3 %, V/V). Therefore, our study not only pioneers the exploration of a promising alternative antibacterial strategy, but more excitingly, also opens a profound vista for potential biomedical applications of laser-facilitated H₂O₂ photodecomposition.