Flexible Amoxicillin-Grafted Bacterial Cellulose Sponges for Wound Dressing: In Vitro and in Vivo Evaluation

In this study, we report the design and fabrication of a novel biocompatible sponge with excellent antibacterial property, making it a promising material for wound dressings. The sponge is formed by grafting amoxicillin onto regenerated bacterial cellulose (RBC). It was observed that the grafted RBC could enhance the antibacterial activity against fungus, Gram-negative, and Gram-positive bacteria. The morphology of strains treated with the grafted RBC and fluorescent stain results further demonstrated the antibacterial ability of the fabricated sponge. Moreover, a cytocompatibility test evaluated in vitro and in vivo illustrates the nontoxicity of the prepared sponge. More importantly, the wound infection model reveals that this sponge can accelerate the wound healing in vivo. This work indicates the novel sponge has the huge potential in wound dressing application for clinical use.