Shikonin delivery strategy through alkali-crosslinked polyvinyl alcohol hydrogel promotes effective wound healing

Abstract

Effective wound healing is one of the most concerning health issues worldwide. The addition of traditional Chinese herbal ingredients to functional hydrogel materials may be an efficient strategy to promote wound healing. Herein, shikonin (SHK) was simply introduced into polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) hydrogel to develop the SHK/PVA composite hydrogel through an alkali crosslinking method. SHK/PVA hydrogel could not only improve cell adhesion and proliferation but also considerably increase collagen deposition, enhance angiogenesis, reduce inflammatory response, and finally accelerate wound healing in rat skin defect models. The results from this study indicated that the introduction of SHK would be a crucial strategy for wound healing. Therefore, SHK/PVA hydrogel is expected to provide a new choice for clinical repair and regeneration of acute and chronic wounds.