Arginine derivatives assist dopamine-hyaluronic acid hybrid hydrogels to have enhanced antioxidant activity for wound healing

Abstract Scaffolds with antioxidant capability have attracted considerable interests for wound healing. For enhanced wound healing, new antioxidant materials are still highly needed. In this study, new antioxidant materials, arginine derivatives (AD), were introduced into dopamine-functionalized hyaluronic acid (HA-DA) to develop novel hydrogels (HA-DA/AD) with enhanced antioxidant activity. The HA-DA/AD hydrogels showed greater DPPH and hydroxyl radical scavenging rates than the HA-DA hydrogel. Moreover, the HA-DA/AD hydrogels exhibited significantly better protection for cells against external oxidative stress (decreased ROS and MDA levels and increased SOD and GPx enzyme activity) and better wound healing (enhanced VEGF and CD 31 expression and enhanced tissue remodeling). This study confirmed that AD could assist wound healing scaffolds to have enhanced antioxidant properties.