Accelerated Cutaneous Wound Healing Using an Injectable Teicoplanin-loaded PLGA-PEG-PLGA Thermogel Dressing

Bacterial infection is a very troublesome issue in wound treatment, which stimulates exudate formation and severely delays the healing process. Herein, a thermogelling dressing system composed of two triblock copolymers of poly(D,L-lactic acid-co-glycolic acid)-b-poly(ethylene glycol)-b-poly(D,L-lactic acid-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA-PEG-PLGA) with different block lengths was developed to deliver teicoplanin (TPN), a glycopeptide antibiotic, for cutaneous wound repair. The TPN-loaded thermogel was a free-flowing sol at room temperature and formed a semi-solid gel at physiological temperature. In vitro studies demonstrated that the TPN-loaded thermogel system exhibited desired tissue adhesiveness and realized the sustained release of TPN in a fast-followed-slow manner for over three weeks. Furthermore, a full-thickness excision wound model in Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats was constructed to assess the efficacy of TPN-loaded thermogel formulation. Gross and histopathologic observations implied that treatment with the thermogel formulation reduced inflammation response, promoted disposition of collagen, enhanced angiogenesis, and accelerated wound closure and maturity of SD rats. The combination of the bioactivity of TPN and the acidic nature of the thermogel matrix was responsible for such an enhanced wound healing process. Consequently, the TPN-loaded PLGA-PEG-PLGA thermogel is a good candidate of wound dressing for full-thickness excision wound healing.