Novel fibrous collagen-based cream accelerates fibroblast growth for wound healing applications: in vitro and in vivo evaluation.

The present study reports the development of a novel film-forming bovine collagenous cream (BCC) based on bovine collagen (BC). In this study, collagen was isolated from bovine forestomach tissue, a novel source, and a cream formulation was prepared using some other bioactive ingredients. The electrophoretic pattern of the BC was found to be similar to type I collagen. The purity of BC was examined by amino acid analysis, which confirmed the presence of atelocollagen. The physicochemical properties of BCC such as rheology, spreadability, and temperature stability were characterized. The antimicrobial activity was examined against Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus, and Escherichia coli, and BCC displayed excellent inhibitory effect. In vitro biocompatibility studies using NIH 3T3 fibroblast cells showed enhanced cell viability. FACS analysis revealed the non-toxic nature of BCC toward cells. The cell morphology and proliferation on the BCC matrix was studied using SEM and fluorescence microscopy. The in vivo wound healing efficacy of the BCC as a topical wound dressing was demonstrated on full thickness excision wounds in rat models. The healing profile showed that the BCC significantly enhanced re-epithelialization, collagen deposition, and contraction in the wound healing process. The findings of this study provide a new opportunity for the utilization of the untapped byproducts of the meat industry for valorization. We expect that this kind of topical healing cream could be a potential candidate in wound management and future clinical needs.

3D porous collagen scaffolds reinforced by glycation with ribose for tissue engineering application.

In this study, ribose was proposed as a promising, non-toxic, low-cost crosslinker to enhance the structural integrity and stiffness of type I collagen matrices. The main objective was to determine the optimal conditions of glycation by ribose to fabricate 3D porous collagen scaffolds and to verify their effectiveness for use as scaffolds for cartilage tissue engineering, by physicochemical and biological characterization. Two different crosslinking strategies were investigated including variation in the amount of ribose and the time of reaction: pre-crosslinking (PRE) and post-crosslinking (POST). All ribose-glycated collagen scaffolds demonstrated good swelling properties and interconnected porous microstructure suitable for cell growth and colonization. The POST samples were superior to PRE, in terms of porosity, degree of crosslinking, fluid uptake ability, and resistance to enzymatic digestion. Moreover, the mechanical properties of the scaffolds were significantly improved upon glycation when compared to non-crosslinked collagen, manifesting the best performance for POST matrices crosslinked for 5 d and in the highest amount of sugar. In vitro studies analyzing cell-material interactions revealed scaffold cytocompatibility with higher cell viability and cell proliferation as well as higher glycosaminoglycan secretion for POST scaffolds with respect to PRE. This report demonstrated the feasibility of developing 3D collagen scaffolds by ribose glycation and highlighted the POST-crosslinking strategy as being more favorable than the PRE-crosslinking to achieve scaffolds suitable for cartilage regeneration.