Development of Zinc-loaded Hydrogel Infused with Aloe barbadensis Mucilage for Wound Healing

Abstract

This study aims to formulate and characterize zinc-loaded hydrogel infused with Aloe barbadensis mucilage for wound dressing. Five formulations containing varying proportions of carbopol, zinc, Aloe and water (as vehicle) were developed via physical crosslinking using triethanolamine. All formulations had a translucent off-white colour while the control gave a transparent gel. The viscosity was the highest in the control, 30000.00 ± 2.07 PaS. The pH of the formulations was between 5.7 and 5.8. formulation 2 which was composed of 30 mg of Zinc and 1.4 mg of Aloe barbadensis incorporated into 1% w/v Carbopol Ultrez hydrogel polymer had the lowest swelling index of 79.2 ± 1.95% implying that it had the fastest drug release rate. The wounds treated with formulation 2 had the most rapid healing with no sign of scars in the wound area. Histomorphometric evaluation reflected a high re-epithelisation rate of 70%, a significant percentage occupied by collagen in granulation tissue of 85%. The thickness of the tissue's central region was 10 mm. The inflammatory cells /mm2 tissue was 200 cells/mm2 while the number of microvessels in granulation tissue was 1.0 microvessels/mm2. Zinc-loaded hydrogel infused with Aloe barbadensis mucilage shows great potential as a modern wound dressing.