Skip to main content
ARS Home » Southeast Area » New Orleans, Louisiana » Southern Regional Research Center » Cotton Chemistry and Utilization Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #156634
Title: RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT OF AN ACTIVE COTTON-BASED WOUND DRESSING FOR USE IN CHRONIC WOUNDS

Author
item Edwards, Judson - Vince
item BOPP, ALVIN - COLLABORATOR, SRRC
item Yachmenev, Valeriy
item GOHEEN, STEVEN - PACIFIC NW NATIONAL LAB
item YAGER, DORNE - WOUND HEALING INSTITUTE
item COHEN, I. KELMAN - WOUND HEALING INSTITUTE

Submitted to: American Chemical Society National Meeting
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 2/5/2004
Publication Date: 6/1/2004
Citation: Edwards, J.V., Bopp, A., Yachmenev, V., Goheen, S., Yager, D., Cohen, I. 2004. Issues in the research and development of an active cotton-based wound dressing for use in chronic wounds. American Chemical Society National Meeting. Abstract No. 149.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: The lowering of high protease activity in the chronic wound has been considered a potentially important therapeutic route to accelerated healing with active chronic wound dressings. A cotton-based chronic wound dressing has been developed based on molecular design features that include the binding affinity of destructive proteases by charge and active site interaction. The active wound dressing's design is tailored for selective uptake of human neutrophil elastase (HNE). Dialdehyde gauze was designed and prepared based on a molecular mechanism for serine protease sequestration and a one-step aqueous textile finishing process. Cotton gauze containing 20% dialdehyde cellulose was found to lower elastase activity eight-fold compared with untreated gauze. The elastase-lowering activity of the dialdehyde cotton in-situ was effective with wound dressing incubations for one, six, and twenty-four hours. The dialdehyde gauze also lowered other serine and matrix metallo proteases. The in-situ monitoring of elastase activity in the presence of dialdehyde cotton gauze was determined by assessing the kinetics of substrate hydrolysis in a two-phase system. The in-situ determination of an elastase-lowering effect with the dialdehyde gauze demonstrates that the enzyme is irreversibly bound and is inhibited on the dialdehyde cotton wound-dressing fiber. Development of the wound dressing preparation on a scale suitable for textile mill production of the gauze required adapting the laboratory process for preparation of the dialdehyde gauze in a kier reactor. The issues in developing the process on a large scale included efficient management of reagent concentration and utilizing unreacted reagent to enhance the economical production of the wound dressing.