Abstract
This review describes, in an organized manner, the recent developments in the elaboration of hydrogels that possess antimicrobial activity. The fabrication of antibacterial hydrogels for biomedical applications that permits cell adhesion and proliferation still remains as an interesting challenge, in particular for tissue engineering applications. In this context, a large number of studies has been carried out in the design of hydrogels that serve as support for antimicrobial agents (nanoparticles, antibiotics, etc.). Another interesting approach is to use polymers with inherent antimicrobial activity provided by functional groups contained in their structures, such as quaternary ammonium salt or hydrogels fabricated from antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) or natural polymers, such as chitosan. A summary of the different alternatives employed for this purpose is described in this review, considering their advantages and disadvantages. Finally, more recent methodologies that lead to more sophisticated hydrogels that are able to react to external stimuli are equally depicted in this review.
Highlights
Hydrogels are three-dimensional networks based on the crosslinking of hydrophilic polymers chains
The antimicrobial activity of the epsilon-poly-L-lysine-graft methacrylamide (EPL-MA) hydrogels immobilized onto plastic surfaces was evaluated, and these studies established that these hydrogels are broadly active against bacteria and fungi, for example, C. albicans, P. aeruginosa, S. aureus, E. coli and F. solani
An illustrative example of hydrogels combining both properties was reported by Liu et al [39] who described the fabrication of hydrogels bearing intrinsically antifouling polyethylene glycol (PEG)-based hydrogels combined with polycarbonate groups (polycarbonate containing quaternary ammonium groups, aminatedglycol polycarbonate (APC))
Summary
Hydrogels are three-dimensional networks based on the crosslinking of hydrophilic polymers chains. Provided several characteristics, including the appropriate functionality, biocompatibility, mechanical properties and sterilizability, hydrogels are excellent candidates to be employed in biomedical applications, in particular for treatment or replacement of tissues or even organs [2] These materials have been applied for other purposes including healing of chronic and traumatic wounds, surface coatings for implants, drug delivery and for cell encapsulation and tissue engineering (TE) [3,4,5,6,7]. Materials 2017, 10, 232 physical properties of synthetic polymers are more reproducible and can be modulated through the variation of parameters during their formation, making them more flexible than those derived from natural materials, characteristics that are critical for the fabrication of tissue-engineering scaffolds. More recent strategies in which the hydrogels exhibit a response to environmental conditions that allow modulating the antimicrobial activity of the hydrogel will be discussed throughout this review
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