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Inflammation is a hallmark of tissue remodeling during wound healing. The inflammatory response to wounds is tightly controlled and well-coordinated, dysregulation compromises wound healing and causes persistent inflammation. Topical application of natural anti-inflammatory products may improve wound healing, in particular under chronic pathological conditions. The long-chain metabolites of vitamin E (LCM) are bioactive molecules that mediate cellular effects via oxidative stress signaling as well as anti-inflammatory pathways. However, the effect of LCM on wound healing has not been investigated. We administered the α-tocopherol-derived LCMs α-13′-hydroxychromanol (α-13′-OH) and α-13′-carboxychromanol (α-13′-COOH) as well as the natural product garcinoic acid, a δ-tocotrienol derivative, in different pharmaceutical formulations directly to wounds using a splinted wound mouse model to investigate their effects on the wounds’ proinflammatory microenvironment and wound healing. Garcinoic acid and, in particular, α-13′-COOH accelerated wound healing and quality of the newly formed tissue. We next loaded bacterial nanocellulose (BNC), a valuable nanomaterial used as a wound dressing with high potential for drug delivery, with α-13′-COOH. The controlled release of α-13′-COOH using BNC promoted wound healing and wound closure, mainly when a diabetic condition was induced before the injury. This study highlights the potential of α-13′-COOH combined with BNC as a potential active wound dressing for the advanced therapy of skin injuries.

In this mini-review, we highlight the potential of the biopolymer bacterial cellulose to treat damaged epithelial tissues. Epithelial tissues are cell sheets that delimitate both the external body surfaces and the internal cavities and organs. Epithelia serve as physical protection to underlying organs, regulate the diffusion of molecules and ions, secrete substances and filtrate body fluids, among other vital functions. Because of their continuous exposure to environmental stressors, damage to epithelial tissues is highly prevalent. Here, we first compare the properties of bacterial cellulose to the current gold standard, collagen, and then we examine the use of bacterial cellulose patches to heal specific epithelial tissues; the outer skin, the ocular surface, the oral mucosa and other epithelial surfaces. Special emphasis is made on the dermis since, to date, this is the most widespread medical use of bacterial cellulose. It is important to note that some epithelial tissues represent only the outermost layer of more complex structures such as the skin or the cornea. In these situations, depending on the penetration of the lesion, bacterial cellulose might also be involved in the regeneration of, for instance, inner connective tissue., The authors IA, AL and AR acknowledge the financial support from the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities through the MAT2015-64442-R project, the ‘Severo Ochoa’ Programme for Centers of Excellence in R&D (SEV-2015-0496) and the PhD scholarship of I.A. (BE-2016-076734) and the Generalitat de Catalunya for the 2017SGR765 project. These authors also express their gratitude to the Centre d’Oftalmologia Barraquer for their helpful suggestions in the elaboration of this manuscript.