Polyelectrolyte Complexes of Ciprofloxacin and Lidocaine Improve Wound Healing in Deep Second Degree Burns and Reduce in Vitro Ciprofloxacin Cytotoxicity in Fibroblasts

The development of new treatments capable of controlling infections and pain related to burns continues to be a challenge. Antimicrobials are necessary tools, but these can be cytotoxic for regenerating cells.In this study, antibiotic-anesthetic smart systems obtained by ionic complexation of polyelectrolytes with ciprofloxacin and lidocaine were obtained as film and hydrogel. The complexation of ciprofloxacin with natural polyelectrolytes efficiently contributed to increasing biocompatibility in a primary culture of isolated fibroblasts. In addition, the relative levels of the proteins integrin β1 and p-FAK involved in cell migration were increased with no modifications in cell mobility. Their evaluation in a deep second-degree burn model revealed fast reepithelization, with appendage conservation and complete dermis organization. Encouragingly, we found that both the film and the hydrogel showed a significantly superior performance compared to the reference treatment of silver sulfadiazine cream. This work highlights the great potential of this smart system as an attractive dressing for burns, which surpasses currently available treatments.