Lucuma fruit extract-loaded fish collagen/gellan gum injectable hydrogel for enhanced wound healing

Chronic wounds remain a major clinical challenge due to excessive oxidative stress, prolonged inflammation, and impaired tissue regeneration. In this study, a fish collagen/gellan gum (FC/GEL) composite hydrogel incorporating lucuma extract (LE) was developed as a multifunctional wound dressing material. LE exhibited high phenolic and flavonoid contents and demonstrated potent antioxidant activity. Furthermore, LE effectively suppressed lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced inflammatory responses in RAW 264.7 macrophages. The LE-loaded FC/GEL hydrogels showed excellent cytocompatibility with L929 fibroblasts, significantly reduced nitric oxide (NO) and prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) production, and promoted fibroblast migration in vitro. The wound-healing efficacy was further evaluated using a murine full-thickness excisional wound model. FC/GEL hydrogel containing 3% (w/v) LE significantly accelerated wound closure and enhanced re-epithelialization compared with the control groups. Histological analysis further confirmed improved tissue regeneration and reduced inflammatory cell infiltration. Collectively, these findings demonstrate that lucuma extract endows FC/GEL hydrogels with antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and tissue regenerative properties. Therefore, the developed FC/GEL-LE hydrogel represents a promising naturally derived multifunctional biomaterial platform for advanced wound dressing and skin tissue regeneration applications.