Ferrous iron-induced formation of glycyrrhizic acid hydrogels for Staphylococcus aureus-infected wound healing.

Severe skin wound healing is mainly hindered by bacterial infection and uncontrolled inflammatory reaction. As a wound dressing, multifunctional hydrogel is expected to offer the potential possibility for overcoming current barriers in wound therapeutics. Herein, a natural drug molecule (glycyrrhizic acid, GA) and metal ion (Fe) were used to achieve the metal coordination-induced gelation.