Pharmacy

Supervisory Team:

Dr Abhishek Gupta

School of Pharmacy, Faculty of Science and Engineering (FSE), University of Wolverhampton, Wulfruna Street, Wolverhampton, UK.

Research Institute of Healthcare Science (RIHS), Faculty of Science and Engineering, University of Wolverhampton, Wulfruna Street, Wolverhampton, UK.

Prof Izabela Radecka

School of Life Sciences, FSE, University of Wolverhampton, Wulfruna Street, Wolverhampton, UK.

Research Institute of Healthcare Science (RIHS), Faculty of Science and Engineering, University of Wolverhampton, Wulfruna Street, Wolverhampton, UK.

Dr Hafid Omar

Research Institute of Healthcare Science (RIHS), FSE, University of Wolverhampton, Wulfruna Street, Wolverhampton, UK.

About the Project:

Wound healing a complex physiological process involving several stages. The completeness and length of time to resolution depends on whether the wound is acute or chronic. Market research analysis has reported the current (2024) advanced wound care market values at US $11.66 billion which is expected to rise to US$16.12 billion by 2034 (Advanced Wound Care market). This is due to the rise in prevalence of chronic wound disorders in high-risk population like diabetics, elderly, and immunocompromised patients. There is a plethora of wound care products, yet the pervasiveness of chronic wounds is on the rise, highlighting the ongoing necessity for the development of efficacious wound dressings.

Mother nature has always been an excellent source for potent compounds with healing properties. With an objective to enrich patients' quality of life and mitigate the socioeconomic impact associated with chronic wounds, our group has been working on biosynthetic hydrogels for wound management (Gupta et al., 2016, 2019, 2021). To further improve healing process, selected lipids can be introduced to the topical formulations/hydrogels due to their promising moisturising properties (Gope et al., 2022, de Albuquerque et al., 2023). In addition, the immergence of antibiotic resistant microbial strains necessitated search for newer alternative antimicrobial agents. The emergence of nanotechnology, enabling the production of metal nanoparticles, has served a new therapeutic modality. Attributing to their characteristic antimicrobial properties, metal nanoparticles have received increased intere

The current project will underpin the development of advanced lipid-based materials infused with natural healing agents for wound dressing applications. A range of lipids, from animal and vegetable sources, together with selected metal nanoparticles will be investigated.

The antimicrobial and associated healing properties of nanoparticles and lipid will be evaluated both individually and in synergy. The results of the study will determine whether nanoparticles will be blended with the selected lipid and incorporated into the biosynthetic matrix for potential wound dressing application, either combined or loaded separately. Various methods for blending lipids with nanoparticles may be investigated. Once the potent material is produced, a range of physicochemical and biological characterisation studies will be undertaken to evaluate the suitability of these materials for wound management as dressings. These methods will include the assessment of the chemokine and the cytokine profiles of immune cells associated with wound healing using Luminex technology based on cytokine/chemokine multiplex techniques. Functional studies will also be carried out to determine the effects of nanoparticles-lipid complex on the capacity of immune cell migration and recruitment.

References: Advanced Wound Care Market: https://www.factmr.com/report/4822/advance-wound-care-market

de Albuquerque, P.B.S. et al., 2023. The Use of Proteins, Lipids, and Carbohydrates in the Management of Wounds. Molecules. 28: 1580. doi: 10.3390/molecules28041580.

Gope, A. et al., 2022. Regenerative repair of full thickness skin wound assisted by dual crosslinking percolative gel casting maneuvered alginate hydrogel embedded with honey ghee blend resembles standard cutaneous properties, Journal of Tissue Viability,31, pp. 657-672, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtv.2022.07.007.

Gupta, A. et al., 2016. Characterisation and in vitro antimicrobial activity of biosynthetic silver-loaded bacterial cellulose hydrogels. Journal of Microencapsulation, 33, pp. 725-734.

Gupta, A. et al., 2019. Production and characterisation of bacterial cellulose hydrogels loaded with curcumin encapsulated in Cyclodextrins as wound dressings. European Polymer Journal, 118, pp. 437-450.

Gupta, A. et al., 2020. Synthesis of Silver Nanoparticles Using Curcumin-Cyclodextrins Loaded into Bacterial Cellulose Based Hydrogels for Wound Dressing Applications. BioMacromolecules, 21, pp. 1802–1811.

Mohamed, D.S. et al., 2020. Antimicrobial Activity of Silver-Treated Bacteria against other Multi-Drug Resistant Pathogens in Their Environment. Antibiotics, 9, 181. https://doi.org/10.3390/antibiotics9040181.

For an informal discussion please contact via direct email to Dr Abhishek Gupta (a.gupta@wlv.ac.uk).

Complete Form Below and email to RDSS@wlv.ac.uk.