Hydrogel-Based Strategies to Advance Therapies for Chronic Skin Wounds

Abstract

Chronic skin wounds are the leading cause of nontraumatic foot amputations worldwide and present a significant risk of morbidity and mortality due to the lack of efficient therapies. The intrinsic characteristics of hydrogels allow them to benefit cutaneous healing essentially by supporting a moist environment. This property has long been explored in wound management to aid in autolytic debridement. However, chronic wounds require additional therapeutic features that can be provided by a combination of hydrogels with biochemical mediators or cells, promoting faster and better healing. We survey hydrogel-based approaches with potential to improve the healing of chronic wounds by reviewing their effects as observed in preclinical models. Topics covered include strategies to ablate infection and resolve inflammation, the delivery of bioactive agents to accelerate healing, and tissue engineering approaches for skin regeneration. The article concludes by considering the relevance of treating chronic skin wounds using hydrogel-based strategies.

Octenidine-based hydrogel shows anti-inflammatory and protease-inhibitory capacities in wounded human skin

“…Today, moist wound healing is widely accepted as the state-of-the-art in professional wound care. The high water content of hydrogels allows them to benefit cutaneous healing essentially by supporting a moist wound environment and promoting autolytic debridement 46 . We have shown in all experiments herein that the combination of a hydrogel with the antiseptic OCT provides additional immunomodulatory features compared to Figure 5.…”

Evaluation of BepanGel Hydrogel Efficacy and Tolerability Using an Abrasive Wound Model in a Within-Person, Single-Center, Randomized, Investigator-Blind Clinical Investigation

“…Since then, hydrogel technologies have been widely used for several purposes including hygiene products, drug delivery systems, sealing, pharmaceuticals, biomedical applications, tissue engineering, regenerative medicines, and wound dressings [ 20 ]. As a result of their structure, hydrogels possess many desired characteristics to effectively treat wounds, including cleansing of dry wounds by providing a moist environment, providing permeability towards metabolites, and their ability to cool the surface of the wound leading to an immediate relief of pain [ 6 , 21 , 22 ]. In addition, the hydrogel forms a physical barrier preventing contamination and potential infection of the wound.…”

“…Hydrogels are water-based polymers designed to prevent wounds from drying out in order to stimulate wound healing, decrease granulation and subsequent scarring, prevent cracking of the wound, and form a barrier against dirt, contamination, and external influences. The beneficial effects of hydrogels have been demonstrated in several types of wounds, including necrotic and sloughy wounds, chronic skin wounds, corneal wounds, and burn wounds [5][6][7][8][9]. BepanGel wound care hydrogel, also known as Flamozil or Zoralan Wound, is a paraben-free, unmedicated, acidified hydrogel that forms a semi-occlusive, breathable protective film on the wound.…”

High Flexible and Broad Antibacterial Nanodressing Induces Complete Skin Repair with Angiogenic and Follicle Regeneration

“…Currently, wound dressings or artificial skins produced by advanced technologies have been extensively studied in the wound treatment since decades. [6][7][8][9][10][11] Among them, the electrospinning technology that can produce nanofibers to simulate the nanoscale structure of native extracellular matrix presents many incomparable advantages, such as nanoscaled porous structures permitting water and oxygen exchange, appropriate flexibility, easily carrying cell instructive and conductive cues. [12][13][14] So far, large quantities of natural and synthetic polymers, such as collagen, silk fibrin (SF), gelatin, polysaccharides, poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA), poly(lactic acid) (PLA), poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA), and polycaprolactone (PCL) have been extensively used to produce electrospun nanofibers for wounding healing.…”