Hydrogel-Based Biomaterials Engineered from Natural-Derived Polysaccharides and Proteins for Hemostasis and Wound Healing

Abstract

Rapid and effective hemostasis is of great importance to improve the quality of treatment and save lives in emergency, surgical practice, civilian, and military settings. Traditional hemostatic materials such as tourniquets, gauze, bandages, and sponges have shown limited efficacy in the management of uncontrollable bleeding, resulting in widespread interest in the development of novel hemostatic materials and techniques. Benefiting from biocompatibility, degradability, injectability, tunable mechanical properties, and potential abilities to promote coagulation, wound healing, and anti-infection, hydrogel-based biomaterials, especially those on the basis of natural polysaccharides and proteins, have been increasingly explored in preclinical studies over the past few years. Despite the exciting research progress and initial commercial development of several hemostatic hydrogels, there is still a significant distance from the desired hemostatic effect applicable to clinical treatment. In this review, after elucidating the process of biological hemostasis, the latest progress of hydrogel biomaterials engineered from natural polysaccharides and proteins for hemostasis is discussed on the basis of comprehensive literature review. We have focused on the preparation strategies, physicochemical properties, hemostatic and wound-healing abilities of these novel biomaterials, and highlighted the challenges that needed to be addressed to achieve the transformation of laboratory research into clinical practice, and finally presented future research directions in this area.

Polysaccharide-Based Transdermal Drug Delivery

“…Highly absorbent hydrogel materials prepared by cross-linking carboxymethyl agarose (CMA) and polyacrylamide (PAm) can absorb an aqueous solution hundreds of times heavier than its weight [ 72 ]. The hydrogel of BSP combined with Carbopol 940 has good viscoelasticity and physical strength and can be used in wound dressing to promote plasma coagulation and facilitate wound healing [ 73 , 74 ]. Polysaccharide-based hydrogels are also adopted for the delivery of macromolecules.…”

Bioactive hydrogels based on polysaccharides and peptides for soft tissue wound management

“…Innovative strategies for achieving multiple bioactive effects based on the foundation of biochemical cues and nature inspirations are introduced. Although other researchers have previously made many reviews of close topics, 3,6,7,9,11 we believe that this review can provide accessible knowledge and design ideas for future researchers.…”

Design of biopolymer-based hemostatic material: Starting from molecular structures and forms

“…of the polysaccharides are disparate, which can endow them with various hemostatic characteristics as detailed in the following sections. Similarly, polypeptides, which are abundant in tissue and blood, play a vital role in coagulation and can be utilized as the key point for hemostatic material design [ 11 , 12 ]. Furthermore, many functional groups have recently been introduced into the biopolymers to modify their physical and physiological properties, making them smart and multifunctional.…”