# Comparison of Wound Healing Efficiency Between Bacterial Cellulose Dry Membrane and Commercial Dressings

## TL;DR

This study compares how well bacterial cellulose dry membrane and commercial dressings help wounds heal, especially under infection conditions.

## Contribution

The study introduces a new bacterial cellulose dry membrane and evaluates its wound healing performance against commercial products.

## Key findings

- The BC dry membrane and AQUACEL® dressing showed the most significant wound recovery, including improved angiogenesis and epidermis regeneration.
- Without infection, inflammatory markers like COX-2 and iNOS in the BC group were reduced to levels similar to healthy tissue.
- The BC membrane was confirmed to be non-toxic to NIH-3T3 cells in vitro.

## Abstract

The development of dressing materials mainly protects the wound, prevents infection, and assists in wound healing. Apart from the most common gauze on the market, different dressing materials can accelerate wound healing. Bacterial cellulose (BC) dressings have had many related studies and applications so far, and other natural or artificial compounds that are beneficial to tissue repair may also be added during the manufacturing process. This study compared the wound healing efficacies of BC dry membrane developed by our team, gauze, commercially available “TegadermTM Hydrocolloid Dressing”, and “AQUACEL® EXTRA Hydrofiber Dressing”. This study used rats as experimental animals and injured them by scalding. Moreover, Staphylococcus aureus was used to infect wounds to compare the effects on wound healing. We first used NIH-3T3 cells for an in vitro model to confirm that the BC membrane is not harmful to cells. In the animal experiment, wounds were created by scalding and then treated with different dressing materials and doses of S. aureus. After 10 days of treatment, the wound recovery in the BC membrane and AQUACEL® groups was the most obvious, including angiogenesis in the dermal layer and regeneration of the epidermis layer. Especially without S. aureus infection, inflammatory markers such as cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) expression levels were reduced to those of healthy tissue. In conclusion, we confirmed that the BC dry membrane can accelerate wound healing. In the future, it may provide high-efficiency and less expensive options in the dressing market.