Agarose/ -carrageenan-based hydrogel !lm enriched with natural plant extracts for the treatment of cutaneous wounds

Hydrogels for complex and chronic wound dressings must be conformable, absorb and retain wound exudates and maintain hydration. They can incorporate and release bioactive molecules that can accelerate the healing process. Wound dressings have to be in contact with the wound and epidermis, even for long periods, without causing adverse effects. Hydrogel dressing formulations based on biopolymers derived from terrestrial or marine "ora can be relatively inexpensive and well tolerated. In the present article hydrogel !lms composed by agarose (1.0 wt%), -carrageenan at three different concentrations (0.5, 1.0 and 1.5 wt%) and glycerol (3.0 wt%) were pre- pared without recourse to crosslinking agents, and characterized for their mechanical properties, morphology, swelling and erosion behavior. The !lms resulted highly elastic and able to absorb and retain large amounts of "uids without losing their integrity. One of the !lms was loaded with the aqueous extract from Cryphaea heteromalla (Hedw.) D. Mohr for its antioxidant properties. Absence of cytotoxicity and ability to reduce the ox- idative stress were demonstrated on NIH-3T3 !broblast cell cultures. These results encourage further biological evaluations to assess their impact on the healing process.