Designing of tragacanth gum-poly(2-(methacryloyloxy) ethyl] dimethyl-(3-sulfopropyl) ammonium hydroxide) and poly(acrylamide) based hydrogels for drug delivery and wound dressing applications

Bioactive tragacanth gum (TG) was functionalized by covalent crosslinking of poly[2-(methacryloyloxy) ethyl] dimethyl-(3-sulfopropyl) ammonium hydroxide (PMEDSAH) to design network structure in form of hydrogel wound dressings (HWD). These copolymers were encapsulated with antibiotic drug vancomycin to enhance wound healing potential of the dressings. The copolymers were characterized by SEM, AFM, FTIR, ¹³C NMR, XRD, and TGA-DSC analysis. SEM demonstrated uneven heterogeneous morphology and AFM revealed rough surface of copolymer. Inclusion of synthetic component into HD was confirmed by FTIR and ¹³C NMR. Hydrogel dressings absorbed 8.49 ​± ​1.03 ​g/g simulated wound fluid and exhibited non-hemolytic (3.7 ​± ​0.02 % hemolytic potential) and antioxidant (37.42 ​± ​1.54 ​% free radical scavenging in DPPH assay) properties. Polymers required 35.0 ​± ​5.0 ​mN detachment force to get it detach from the mucosal surface during mucoadhesive test. Tensile strength was found to be 1.88 ​± ​0.13 ​N/mm² during mechanical stability test. Hydrogel dressings were permeable to O₂/H₂O and impermeable to microbes. Release of drug vancomycin occurred through non-Fickian diffusion mechanism and release profile was best described by Korsmeyer-Peppas kinetic model. Overall, these results revealed that these hydrogels could be explored as materials for hydrogel wound dressings.