Synthesis and evaluation of haemocompatible, antioxidant, and antibacterial properties, and acute oral toxicity of a methacrylic acid mediated glucoxylan for wound healing applications

Abstract

Herein, a copolymeric hydrogel comprising a naturally occurring swellable biopolymer, i.e., glucoxylan (a major polysaccharide of chia seed mucilage (CM)) and methacrylic acid (MA), was synthesized through free radical polymerization for wound healing applications. The formation of CM-co-MA was authenticated through FTIR spectroscopy

Introduction

The skin is the largest organ in the human body, which makes up around 15% of the total body weight. It serves as a barrier to protect the body from bacterial infections and environmental. The ordinarily resilient barrier of the skin is often compromised by various types of trauma, burns, ulcers, skin infections, injuries and other detrimental events, which also disrupt the vital function of the skin in sensory perception.

Materials and methods

Materials

Chia seeds were purchased from a local market in District Sargodha. N-N-methylenebisacrylamide (MBA, ≥ 99%, Sigma-Aldrich, Germany), methacrylic acid (MA, 99%, Sigma-Aldrich, Germany), ammonium persulfate (APS, ≥ 98%, Sigma-Aldrich, Germany), n-hexane (≥95%, Riedel-de Haen, Germany), and ethanol (≥98%, Riedel-de Haen, Germany) were used in this research 

Isolation of CM

An aqueous extraction method was employed to extract the mucilage from chia seeds as reported in the literature [30]. Briefly, the cleaned and overnight-soaked chia seeds were heated for 1 h at 60°C. The extruded mucilage from chia seeds was separated using a nylon mesh and thoroughly washed three times with n-hexane

Results 

Synthesis and FTIR spectroscopic analysis

CM-co-MA was successfully synthesized by treating CM (polymer) with MA (monomer) in the presence of APS (initiator) and MBA (crosslinker) using the free radical copolymerization method. The FTIR spectrum of CM indicated the presence of a prominent peak at 3419 cm-1, due to the presence of hydroxyl 

Hemocompatibility studies

The hemolytic index of CM-co-MA was found to be 4.07%. According to the safety standards of ISO document 10993–4:2017, the value of the hemolytic index should be less than 5% if the material is intended to be used for biomedical applications and considered a biocompatible material. 

Conclusion

A copolymer hydrogel (CM-co-MA) was successfully synthesized and applied for wound healing. The CM-co-MA showed non-hemolytic and non-thrombogenic features, indicating its biocompatibility. CM-co-MA possesses remarkable anti-oxidant, antibacterial, and anti-fungal activities. CM-co-MA was tested for toxicity in vivo in rabbits, and the results revealed no significant changes in the physical behavior.

Citation: Yaqoob S, Ali A, Sheikh FA, Haseeb MT, Ali H, Assad N, et al. (2026) Synthesis and evaluation of haemocompatible, antioxidant, and antibacterial properties, and acute oral toxicity of a methacrylic acid mediated glucoxylan for wound healing applications. PLoS One 21(8): e0356647. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0356647

Editor: Salem S. Salem, Al-Azhar University, EGYPT

Received: January 7, 2026; Accepted: August 5, 2026; Published: August 27, 2026

Copyright: © 2026 Yaqoob et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Data Availability: The authors declare that the data supporting the findings of this study are available within the paper.

Funding: The author(s) received no specific funding for this work.

Competing interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.