Polysaccharide-based hydrogels for drug delivery and wound management: a review

ABSTRACT

Introduction

Polysaccharide-based hydrogels (PBHs) offer several advantages over their synthetic counterparts. Their natural origin contributes to their nontoxicity, high biocompatibility, and in vivo biodegradability. Their properties can be tuned finely to obtain hydrogels with desired mechanical, structural, and chemical properties.

Areas covered

Such versatile characteristics have potentiated the use of PBHs for the delivery of drugs, vaccines, protein and peptide therapeutics, genes, cells, probiotics, bacteriophages, and other therapeutic agents. Recent advances in hydrogel-based formulations such as nanogels, microgels, microneedles, hydrogel beads, nanocarrier-loaded hydrogels, and complexation hydrogels have enabled the precise delivery of a wide range of therapeutics. This review aims to give a holistic overview of hydrogels in the delivery of a variety of therapeutics through different routes.

Expert opinion

PBHs have been used to enable the oral delivery of vaccines and other biologicals, thereby allowing self-administration of life-saving vaccines during public health emergencies. There is a lack of commercialized wound dressings for the treatment of chronic wounds. PBH-based wound dressings, especially those based on chitosan and loaded with actives and growth factors, have the potential to help in the long-term treatment of such wounds. Recent developments in the 3D printing of hydrogels can enable the quick and large-scale production of drug-loaded hydrogels.

Graphical Abstract

KEYWORDS:

• Carbohydrate hydrogels
• drug delivery
• gene delivery
• vaccine delivery
• cell therapy
• wound healing
• chitosan

Article highlights

• A wide range of polysaccharides and their derivatives have been used for drug delivery and wound healing

• Recent advances in the field include microgels, nanogels, nanocarrier-loaded hydrogels, hydrogel-based microneedles, and complexation hydrogels

• PBHs can enable the oral, intranasal, ocular, and vaginal delivery of drugs, proteins, vaccines, probiotics, and bacteriophages

• Drug-loaded PBHs are promising candidates for healing a variety of wounds

Abbreviations

PBH polysaccharide-based hydrogels; CRISPR clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats; ECM extracellular matrix; HA hyaluronic acid; BC bacterial cellulose; CMC carboxymethyl cellulose; HPMC hydroxypropyl methylcellulose; HEC hydroxyethyl cellulose; MC methyl cellulose; SA sodium alginate; CD cyclodextrin; CG carrageenan; GG gellan gum; NHS N-hydroxysuccinimide; PVA poly(vinyl alcohol); PEG polyethylene glycol; GIT gastrointestinal tract; NP nanoparticle (prefix Au=gold, Ag=silver); IPN-interpenetrating network; KGM konjac glucomannan; QD quantum dot; DM diabetes mellitus; FGF fibroblast growth factor; IL interleukin; TNF tumor necrosis factor; CNS central nervous system; DNA deoxyribonucleic acid; RNA ribonucleic acid (prefix si=small interfering m=messenger); CAR-T chimeric antigen receptor T-cells; NO nitric oxide; SARS-CoV-2 severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; Ig immunoglobulin

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Dr. Sreeranjini Pulakkat for her efforts in revising the manuscript.

Declaration of interest

The authors have no relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript. This includes employment, consultancies, honoraria, stock ownership or options, expert testimony, grants or patents received or pending, or royalties.

Reviewer disclosures

Peer reviewers on this manuscript have no relevant financial or other relationships to disclose.

Additional information

Funding

This paper was not funded.