Lignin and Its Composites for Wound Dressing

Abstract

Mechanical damage to the skin due to an injury provoked by a cut or other impact facilitates the penetration, invasion, and colonization of microorganisms into the epithelial layer, favoring the development of infections. This situation is exacerbated when opportunistic microorganisms or pathogens reach deeper layers in the skin, where bacteria can proliferate under aerobic or anaerobic conditions. This sort of infection can compromise healing by delaying the scarring process. More complex situations occur when the wound is caused by burning, leading to further complications because more necrotized tissue is exposed, allowing bacteria to replicate on a greater surface. This situation is exacerbated when the wound starts to exudate during its healing process. Exudates or wound drainage develop a rich environment for epithelial cells to migrate to the wound. It is an aqueous fluid containing nutrients, inflammatory mediators, proteins, leukocytes, etc. Unfortunately, this enriched environment also favors the growth of bacteria that can lead to infected acute or chronic wounds. Therefore, considering the problems that might be derived from a skin injury, the development of effective wound dressing is a need for wound care. This chapter will discuss the applications of lignin in combination with nanocomposites for wound care. These applications include the use of lignin combined with nanoparticles, hydrogels, nanofibers, etc. This chapter will also discuss the toxicity, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and antimicrobial properties, and physiological concerns of lignin-based nanocomposites.