Abstract
This review deals with hydrogels as soft and biocompatible vehicles for the delivery of plant-derived (poly)phenols, compounds with low general toxicity and an extraordinary and partially unexplored wide range of biological properties, whose use presents some major issues due to their poor bioavailability and water solubility. Hydrogels are composed of polymeric networks which are able to absorb large amounts of water or biological fluids while retaining their three-dimensional structure. Apart from this primary swelling capacity, hydrogels may be easily tailored in their properties according to the chemical structure of the polymeric component in order to obtain smart delivery systems that can be responsive to various internal/external stimuli. The functionalization of the polymeric component of hydrogels may also be widely exploited to facilitate the incorporation of bioactive compounds with different physicochemical properties into the system. Several prototype hydrogel systems have been designed for effective polyphenol delivery and potential employment in the treatment of human diseases. Therefore, the inherent features of hydrogels have been the focus of considerable research efforts over the past few decades. Herein, we review the most recent advances in (poly)phenol-loaded hydrogels by analyzing them primarily from the therapeutic perspective and highlighting the innovative aspects in terms of design and chemistry.
Highlights
Hydrogels (HGs) are soft 3D materials capable of swelling in aqueous media and retaining a large amount of water without dissolving
A thermo-sensitive chitosan/gelatin/glycerol phosphate loaded with ferulic acid (FA) (FA-chitosan/gelatin/β-glycerol phosphate (CS/G/GP)) HG was formulated for gradual release of FA to treat nucleus pulposus (NP) cells from the oxidative stress-induced damage, since the gelation temperature of the FA-CS/G/GP HG was 32.17 ◦ C
chlorogenic acid (CGA) is the ester of CA with the 3-hydroxyl of l-quinic acid (Figure 5), which was found as the major component of the aqueous extract of the residual biomass of green coffee after oil extraction from coffee beans and was found to have beneficial effects on wound repair in mice models when incorporated in a Carbopol® 940 HG [26]
Summary
Hydrogels (HGs) are soft 3D materials capable of swelling in aqueous media and retaining a large amount of water without dissolving They are defined as semi-solid systems which resemble in their properties natural living tissue [1]. HGs containing such linkages may be may exploited exploited for target-based or site-directed drug delivery systems [7]. The (poly)phenol family represents one of the most abundant and extensively extensively studied class of molecules commonly distributed in the plant kingdom. The focus of the present review is that of underlining the recent growing interest of the HGs as delivery systems of bioactive plant-derived (poly)phenols, whose use as therapeutic agents and development as drugs is hampered by their limited bioavailability and water solubility. With the proper combination of polymers, HGs suitable for local injections and oral administration might be obtained
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