Antibacterial hydrogels based on Gellan Gum and Manuka honey for tissue engineering applications

One of the hardest challenges in biomaterials science consists in the repair of cartilage. Hydrogels represent very promising candidates even if their clinical application is still limited by unsuitable mechanical performances and proneness to infection. Accordingly, here we present an innovative antibacterial hydrogel with superior mechanical properties. Gellan gum (GG) was used to prepare a composite hydrogel, adding Manuka honey (MH) as molecular spacer to enhance the gel viscosity and introduce antibacterial properties. Furthermore, halloysite nanotubes (HNT), natural biocompatible clays, were added to increase the gel compressive modulus up to ~140kPa. Compared with other natural hydrogels for cartilage regeneration described in literature, the developed gels showed superior mechanical performances. Moreover, the MH doping inhibited the formation of Staphylococcus aureus and epidermidis biofilm without influencing stem cells viability and chondrogenic differentiation.