Wound healing is an unmet therapeutic challenge among medical society since wound assessment and management is a complex procedure including several factors playing major role in healing process. Wounds can mainly be categorized as acute or chronic. It is well referred that the acute wound displays normal wound physiology while healing, in most cases, is seemed to progress through the normal phases of wound healing. On the other hand, a chronic wound is physiologically impaired. The main problem in wound management is that the majority of wounds are colonized with microbes, whereas this does not mean that all wounds will be infected. In this review, we address the problems that clinicians face to manage while treat acute and chronic wounds. Moreover, we demonstrate the pathophysiology, etiology, prognosis and microbiology of wounds. We further introduce the state of art in pharmaceutical technology field as part of wound management aiming to assist health professionals to overcome the current implications on wound assessment. In addition, authors review researches which included the use of gels and dermal films as wound healing agents. It can be said that natural and synthetic drugs or carriers provide promising solutions in order to meet the wound management standards. However, are the current strategies as desirable as medical society wish?

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Nanocarriers, due to their unique features, are of increased interest among researchers working with pharmaceutical formulations. Polymeric nanoparticles and nanocapsules, involving non-toxic biodegradable polymers, liposomes, solid lipid nanoparticles, and inorganic–organic nanomaterials, are among the most used carriers for drugs for a broad spectrum of targeted diseases. In fact, oral, injectable, transdermal-dermal and ocular formulations mainly consist of the aforementioned nanomaterials demonstrating promising characteristics such as long circulation, specific targeting, high drug loading capacity, enhanced intracellular penetration, and so on. Over the last decade, huge advances in the development of novel, safer and less toxic nanocarriers with amended properties have been made. In addition, multifunctional nanocarriers combining chemical substances, vitamins and peptides via coupling chemistry, inorganic particles coated by biocompatible materials seem to play a key role considering that functionalization can enhance characteristics such as biocompatibility, targetability, environmental friendliness, and intracellular penetration while also have limited side effects. This review aims to summarize the “state of the art” of drug delivery carriers in nanosize, paying attention to their surface functionalization with ligands and other small or polymeric compounds so as to upgrade active and passive targeting, different release patterns as well as cell targeting and stimuli responsibility. Lastly, future aspects and potential uses of nanoparticulated drug systems are outlined.

Two novel chitosan (CS) adsorbents were prepared in powder form, after modification with the grafting of itaconic acid (CS-g-IA) and cross-linking with either glutaraldehyde (CS-g-IA(G)) or epichlorohydrin (CS-g-IA(E)). Their adsorption properties were evaluated in batch experiments for Cd(II) or Pb(II) uptake. Characterization techniques were applied to the prepared adsorbents as swelling experiments, TGA, SEM, XRD, and FTIR. Adsorption mechanisms were suggested for different pH conditions. Various adsorption parameters were determined as the effect of pH, contact time, and temperature. The maximum adsorption capacities for Cd(II) uptake were 405 and 331 mg/g for CS-g-IA(G) and CS-g-IA(E), respectively, revealing the capacity enhancement after grafting (124 and 92 mg/g were the respective values before grafting, respectively). A similar grafting effect was observed for Pb(II) uptake, proving its adsorption effectiveness on the CS backbone. The reuse of adsorbents was tested with 20 adsorption-desorption cycles.

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