Alginate is a natural rich anionic
polysaccharide (APS), commonly available as
calcium alginate (CAPS). It can maintain a physiologically moist microenvironment, which minimises
bacterial infection and facilitates wound healing at a
wound site. Patients with
burn injuries suffer from
pain and an inflammatory response. In this study, we evaluated the CAPS dressing and traditional dressing containing
carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) for wound healing and
scar tissue formation in a
burn model of rat and swine. In our pilot study of a
burn rat model to evaluate inflammatory response and wound healing, we found that the
monocyte chemoattractant protein (MCP)-1 and
transforming growth factor (TGF)-β were up-regulated in the CAPS treatment group. Next, the
burn swine models tested positive for MCP-1 in a
Gram-positive bacterial infection, and there was overproduction of TGF-β during the
burn wound healing process. Rats were monitored daily for 1 week for
cytokine assay and sacrificed on day 28 post-
burn injury. The swine were monitored over 6 weeks. We further examined the
pain and related factors and inflammatory
cytokine expression in a rodent
burns model monitored everyday for 7 days post-
burn. Our results revealed that the efficacy of the dressing containing CAPS for
wound repair post-
burn was better than the CMC dressing with respect to natural wound healing and
scar formation. The
polysaccharide-enriched dressing exerted an antimicrobial effect on
burn wounds, regulated the inflammatory response and stimulated anti-inflammatory
cytokine release. However, one
pain assessment method showed no significant difference in the reduction in levels of
adenosine triphosphate in serum of rats after
wound dressing in either the CAPS or CMC group. In conclusion, a
polysaccharide-enriched dressing outperformed a traditional dressing in reducing
wound size, minimising
hypertrophic scar formation, regulating
cytokines and maximising antimicrobial effects.