Curcumin-loaded hydrogels as antimicrobial photosensitisers in the treatment of post-surgery infections

Microbial infections are becoming a serious health issue due to the widespread diffusion of antibioticresistance. Multidrug-resistant bacteria can diffuse easily from person to person or from patient to patient during hospitalization and post-surgery. Therefore, therapeutic strategies and innovative antimicrobial biomaterials are being developed to effectively combat pathogens without inducing resistance and accelerate postoperative recovery. As part of the ongoing research on supramolecular photosensitisers systems, here we report rapidly resorbable hydrogels based on DAC® (HA-PLA) loaded with curcumin I, (1E,6E)-1,7-bis(4-hydroxy- 3methoxyphenyl)hepta-1,6-diene-3,5-dione (Cur) capable of increasing water solubility and bioavailability resulting in controlled release of curcumin into the infection site.