Poly(levodopa)-modified β-glucan as a candidate for wound dressings

Levodopa (biological precursor of dopamine) is sometimes used instead of dopamine for synthesis of highly adhesive polycatecholamine coatings on different materials. However, in comparison of polydopamine, little is known about biological safety of poly(levodopa) coatings and their efficacy in binding of therapeutically active substances. Therefore, thermally polymerized curdlan hydrogel was modified via two different modes using levodopa instead of commonly used dopamine and then coupled with gentamicin - aminoglycoside antibiotic. Physicochemical properties, biological safety and antibacterial potential of the hydrogels were evaluated. Poly(levodopa) deposited on curdlan exhibited high stability in wide pH range and blood or plasma, were nontoxic in zebrafish model and favored blood clot formation. Simultaneously, one of hydrogel modification modes allowed to observe high gentamicin binding capacity, antibacterial activity, relatively high nontoxicity for fibroblasts and was unfavorable for fibroblasts adhesion. Such modified poly(levodopa)-modified curdlan showed therefore high potential as wound dressing biomaterial.