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Review
. 2021 Mar 8;13(3):357.
doi: 10.3390/pharmaceutics13030357.

Emerging Role of Hydrogels in Drug Delivery Systems, Tissue Engineering and Wound Management

Shery Jacob  1 , Anroop B Nair  2 , Jigar Shah  3 , Nagaraja Sreeharsha  2   4 , Sumeet Gupta  5 , Pottathil Shinu  6
Affiliations
Review

Emerging Role of Hydrogels in Drug Delivery Systems, Tissue Engineering and Wound Management

Shery Jacob et al. Pharmaceutics. .

Abstract

The popularity of hydrogels as biomaterials lies in their tunable physical properties, ability to encapsulate small molecules and macromolecular drugs, water holding capacity, flexibility, and controllable degradability. Functionalization strategies to overcome the deficiencies of conventional hydrogels and expand the role of advanced hydrogels such as DNA hydrogels are extensively discussed in this review. Different types of cross-linking techniques, materials utilized, procedures, advantages, and disadvantages covering hydrogels are tabulated. The application of hydrogels, particularly in buccal, oral, vaginal, and transdermal drug delivery systems, are described. The review also focuses on composite hydrogels with enhanced properties that are being developed to meet the diverse demand of wound dressing materials. The unique advantages of hydrogel nanoparticles in targeted and intracellular delivery of various therapeutic agents are explained. Furthermore, different types of hydrogel-based materials utilized for tissue engineering applications and fabrication of contact lens are discussed. The article also provides an overview of selected examples of commercial products launched particularly in the area of oral and ocular drug delivery systems and wound dressing materials. Hydrogels can be prepared with a wide variety of properties, achieving biostable, bioresorbable, and biodegradable polymer matrices, whose mechanical properties and degree of swelling are tailored with a specific application. These unique features give them a promising future in the fields of drug delivery systems and applied biomedicine.

Keywords: drug delivery systems; hydrogel; modified contact lens; polymeric hydrogel nanoparticles; stimuli responsive; tissue engineering scaffolds; wound dressing materials.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Schematic representation of the synthesis of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide-co-dextran-maleic acid-co-3-acrylamidophenylboronic acid) hydrogel, insulin-secreting cell encapsulation, and insulin release under glucose conditions.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Schematic representation of the DNA hydrogels formation by various techniques. (A) Hybridization of DNA with its complementary strands using linker moieties (i) and i-motifs (ii); (B) enzymatic ligation and (C) entanglement of DNA.
Figure 3
Figure 3
(A) Cytoskeleton arrangement of cardiomyocytes under cardiac-specific markers. (B) Bar graph of covered area representing immunofluorescence images of cardiomyocytes [78]. (C) Swelling ratios of alginate/PNIPAAm ICE hydrogels with varying concentrations (10%, 15%, and 20% (w/v)) of N-isopropylacrylamide concentrations at 20 and 60 °C. (D) Tensile stressstrain curves of alginate/PNIPAAm ICE hydrogels at 20 °C. (E) Tensile stress–strain curves of alginate/PNIPAAm ICE hydrogels at 60 °C [79].
Figure 4
Figure 4
Enhanced buccal permeation demonstrated by the hydrogel-based mucoadhesive almotriptan buccal film compared to oral suspension containing equivalent dose [80].
Figure 5
Figure 5
Conventional hydrogel oral preparation methods and drug release behavior.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Different targets and potential ocular delivery routes available for drug-loaded hydrogel polymers.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Surface-coated silicone hydrogel with hyaluronic acid/chitosan having protein antifouling characteristics as a contact lens material.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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