Impaired blood vessel formation limits the healing of diabetic
ulcers and leaves patients at high risk for
amputation. Nonbiologic vascular regenerative materials made of
methacrylic acid (MAA) copolymer, such as MAA-co-methyl
methacrylate beads, have shown to enhance wound healing in a diabetic animal model, but their lack of biodegradability precludes their clinical implementation. Here, a new MAA-based gel was created by cross-linking polyMAA with
collagen using
carbodiimide chemistry. Using this gel on full-thickness
wounds in diabetic db/db mice augmented vascularization of the
wound bed, resulting in a faster closure compared to untreated or
collagen-only treated
wounds. After 21 days, almost all the
wounds were closed and re-epithelialized in the polyMAA-
collagen group compared to that in the other groups in which most
wounds remained open. Histological and fluorescent gel tracking data suggested that the gel resorbed during the phase of tissue remodeling, likely because of the action of macrophages that colonized the gel. We expect the addition of the polyMAA to commercially available
collagen-based dressing to be a good candidate to treat diabetic
ulcers.