M1 macrophage accumulation and excessive
inflammation are commonly encountered issues in diabetic
wounds and can fail in the healing process. Hence,
hydrogel dressings with immunoregulatory capacity have great promise in the clinical practice of diabetic wound healing. However, current immunoregulatory
hydrogels are always needed for complex interventions and high-cost treatments, such as
cytokines and cell
therapies. In this study, a novel
glycyrrhizic acid (GA)-based hybrid
hydrogel dressing with intrinsic immunoregulatory properties is developed to promote rapid diabetic wound healing. This hybrid
hydrogel consists of interpenetrating
polymer networks composed of inorganic Zn2+ -induced self-assembled GA and photo-crosslinked methyl acrylated
silk fibroin (SF), realizing both excellent injectability and mechanical strength. Notably, the SF/GA/Zn hybrid
hydrogel can regulate macrophage responses in the inflammatory microenvironment, circumventing the use of any additives. The immunomodulatory properties of the
hydrogel can be harnessed for safe and efficient
therapeutics that accelerate the three phases of
wound repair and serve as a promising dressing for the management of diabetic
wounds.