ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Mater.
Sec. Biomaterials and Bio-Inspired Materials
Iron-Curcumin-Carboxy PTIO Coordinated Nanoparticles with Anti-Inflammatory Properties for Enhanced Diabetic Wound Healing
Provisionally accepted
- 1Binzhou Medical University Hospital, Binzhou, China
- 2Yantai Yuhuangding Hospital, Yantai, China
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Diabetic wounds present major healing challenges due to chronic inflammation and oxidative stress. Herein, we developed iron-curcumin-coordinated nanoparticles (Fe-Cur-P) to harness curcumin's antioxidant effects while improving its solubility and biocompatibility via iron coordination. The nanoparticles (9.8 ± 0.6 nm) enabled pH-responsive release of carboxy-PTIO (NO scavenger) in acidic wound environments, with 21.31% drug loading. They potently scavenged ROS/RNS, as shown by DPPHꞏ, ABTS+ꞏ, and methylene blue assays. In RAW 264.7 macrophages, Fe-Cur-P reduced LPS-induced apoptosis and suppressed pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL-1β, IL-6, TNF-α, COX-2). In diabetic mice, it accelerated wound closure (93.5 ± 2.4% by day 14), promoted vascularization and collagen deposition, and upregulated TGF-β while attenuating inflammation, outperforming controls and free curcumin. These findings highlight Fe-Cur-P as a promising agent for targeted diabetic wound healing.
Keywords: anti-inflammatory therapy, Antioxidation, diabetic wound healing, iron-curcumin nanoparticles, Tissue Regeneration
Received: 22 Oct 2025; Accepted: 31 Jan 2026.
Copyright: © 2026 Liu, Li, Liu, Li, Liu and Liu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Wenming Liu
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