B.K. Gavrilyuk, V.B. Gavrilyuk

The treatment of wounds using so-called "temporary wound dressings" is at present one of the main methods of wound healing. In the last few years, several hundreds variants of dressings made mainly of synthetic polymers have been developed and manufactured. Attempts were undertaken to produce dressings consisting of natural plant or animal polymers. Synthetic polymers possess a high rigidity, good mechanical properties and are nonadhesive. Dressings consisting of biological materials have good healing properties but degrade rapidly on the wound surface. It should be taken into account that the mechanisms regulating the wound healing involve the cascades of reactions. The regeneration system "Biokol" takes these processes into account and correct them. We have developed a composite material, which consists of a synthetic support and natural components in the invariable form (polysaccharides and proteins). The material retains the beneficial properties of synthetic polymers and natural substances. As a result, the "Biokol" system substantially accelerates the wound healing. By its action, "Biokol" is a complicated "intellectual" system, which distinguishes it from other dressings. It possesses the properties of synthetic dressings, such as mechanical protection, and the regulation of gas and vapor permeability. Besides, a specially chosen mixture of native polysaccharides imparts additional properties to the system. First of all, this is the capability of regulating the adhesiveness to the wound surface. In the initial stage of application, the wound dressing is hydrophilic due to the constituent polysaccharides. After the release of active components into the wound, the dressing becomes hydrophobic, the adhesion to the wound surface becomes weaker, and it is easily removed from the wound without damaging it. In this case, the smooth hydrophobic surface prevents the formation of scars. Each of the polysaccharide components plays an important role in the control of the wound healing process. However, of significance is just the complex effect of the mixture. The polysaccharide mixture was so chosen by many-year experimentation that a set and a combination of electrostatic, cationic and anionic, as well as van der Waals and other weak interactions modulated by the system fit best the situation occurring in the intercellular matrix of the healthy growing skin. This makes it possible to rapidly draw out of shock cells capable of functioning and initiate an enhanced growth of normal tissue. At the same time, the components were chosen in such a way as to manifest also the beneficial properties of each component