In the present work, we have tested the potency of
iodine-loaded
agar transdermal patches (5 mg/cm2) for the treatment of infected diabetic
wounds in the Wistar rat model. The rats were treated with the newly developed
agar-
iodine-potassium iodide (KI)-
glycerol (AKIG) patch along with two other commercial dressings
Iodoflex and Tegaderm as controls. Animals that received treatment with AKIG patches and
Iodoflex showed better
infection containment as compared to that with Tegaderm-covered control and exhibited complete healing. The antimicrobial property of all the patches was tested on three bacterial species-Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa-found in infected
wounds. P. aeruginosa exhibited the highest minimum inhibitory concentration and minimum bactericidal concentration values among the three bacterial species for all the patches. The patch showed values of tensile strength, elongation,
water vapor transmission rate, and swelling in the range of 34 ± 5 MPa, 51% ± 5, 2700 ± 110 g/m2/day, and 250% ± 25, respectively, for the
agar-KI-
iodine patch. The release kinetics of
iodine through the
agar matrix was found to follow the first-order drug release kinetics.