Rat model evaluation for healing-promoting effectiveness and antimicrobial activity of electron beam synthesized (polyvinyl alcohol-pectin)- silver doped zinc oxide hydrogel dressings enriched with lavender oil

Abstract

Ag/ZnO NPs and lavender oil (LVO) were incorporated into (polyvinyl alcohol/pectin) (PVA/Pet) dressings using electron beam irradiation technology. The Ag/ZnO NPs were prepared using the precipitation method and characterized using XRD, FTIR, and EDX techniques. TEM micrograph shows their spherical appearance with an average size of around 27.4 nm. The increase in the (PVA: Pet) feed solution concentration up to 30% enhances the gel content to 92%. The swelling degree reaches 1674% using 80 wt% pectin content. Meanwhile, increasing the irradiation dose up to 45 kGy increases the gel fraction and negatively affects the swelling capabilities. Incorporating Ag/ZnO NPs and LVO slightly decreased the gel fraction, the swelling degree, and the dressing's porosity reached 87%. In pseudo extracellular fluids, dressings with 10% LVO demonstrate 419% swelling capacities, and their WVTR reaches 271.1 g/m²h. Dressings show biocompatibility, antimicrobial potential, and excellent wound healing capacity towards the excisional wound model in rats, as confirmed by the histological and biochemical results. LVO-(PVA/Pet)-Ag/ZnO dressings may accelerate tissue granulation and remodeling by replacing lost collagen and cause the wound to constrict by upregulating markers associated with wound healing so that it can be recommended as a wound healing candidate.

Keywords: Biocompatibility; Doping; Essential oils; Healing indicators; Microbial biofilm; Radiation crosslinking.