Physically Cross-Linked Gels of PVA with Natural Polymers as Matrices for Manuka Honey Release in Wound-Care Applications
by
Antonia Monica Neres Santos 1, Ana Paula Duarte Moreira 2, Carlos W. Piler Carvalho 3, Rosa Luchese 4, Edlene Ribeiro 4
, Garrett B. McGuinness 5, Marisa Fernandes Mendes 1 and Renata Nunes Oliveira 1,*
Antonia Monica Neres Santos 1, Ana Paula Duarte Moreira 2, Carlos W. Piler Carvalho 3, Rosa Luchese 4, Edlene Ribeiro 4, Garrett B. McGuinness 5, Marisa Fernandes Mendes 1 and Renata Nunes Oliveira 1,*
1
Postgraduate Program of Chemical Engineering/DEQ, UFRRJ, Seropédica-RJ 23890-000, Brazil
2
Materials and Metallurgy Engineering Program/COPPE, UFRJ, Seropédica-RJ 23890-000, Brazil
3
Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation/Embrapa Food Technology, Brasília 70770-901, Brazil
4
Department of food engineering, UFRRJ, Seropédica-RJ 23890-000, Brazil
5
Centre for Medical Engineering Research, School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, Dublin City University, Dublin 9, Ireland
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Materials 2019, 12(4), 559; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma12040559
Received: 14 January 2019 / Revised: 8 February 2019 / Accepted: 10 February 2019 / Published: 13 February 2019
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Smart Hydrogels in Biomedical Applications)
Manuka honey is a well-known natural material from New Zealand, considered to have properties beneficial for burn treatment. Gels created from polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) blended with natural polymers are potential burn-care dressings, combining biocompatibility with high fluid uptake. Controlled release of manuka honey from such materials is a possible strategy for improving burn healing. This work aimed to produce polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), PVA–sodium carboxymethylcellulose (PVA-CMC), PVA–gelatin (PVA-G), and PVA–starch (PVA-S) cryogels infused with honey and to characterize these materials physicochemically, morphologically, and thermally, followed by in vitro analysis of swelling capacity, degradation/weight loss, honey delivery kinetics, and possible activity against Staphylococcus aureus. The addition of honey to PVA led to many PVA crystals with defects, while PVA–starch–honey and PVA–sodium carboxymethylcellulose–honey (PVA-CMC-H) formed amorphous gels. PVA-CMC presented the highest swelling degree of all. PVA-CMC-H and PVA–gelatin–honey presented the highest swelling capacities of the honey-laden samples. Weight loss/degradation was significantly higher for samples containing honey. Layers submitted to more freeze–thawing cycles were less porous in SEM images. With the honey concentration used, samples did not inhibit S. aureus, but pure manuka honey was bactericidal and dilutions superior to 25% honey were bacteriostatic, indicating the need for higher concentrations to be more effective.
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Keywords:
PVA blends; manuka honey; natural polymers; burn care
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MDPI and ACS Style
Neres Santos, A.M.; Duarte Moreira, A.P.; Piler Carvalho, C.W.; Luchese, R.; Ribeiro, E.; McGuinness, G.B.; Fernandes Mendes, M.; Nunes Oliveira, R. Physically Cross-Linked Gels of PVA with Natural Polymers as Matrices for Manuka Honey Release in Wound-Care Applications. Materials 2019, 12, 559.
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