Injectable carrier hydrogel for diabetic foot ulcer wound repair.

Diabetic foot ulcer (DFU) is one of the most serious complication of diabetes mellitus with the characteristic of long-term non-healing wound, which often leads to amputation and eventual death. In response to the refractory wound, medical dressings are considered helpful. However, traditional dressings often have the disadvantages of limited efficacy and difficulty in long-term maintenance, therefore there is an urgent need to develop novel dressing supplements. A variety of biomaterials have been used as wound dressings to promote wound repair. In particular, the injectable hydrogels with 3D structures similar to soft tissue have excellent biocompatibility, which can fill the irregular wound to play the effect of moisturizing, anti-infection, etc. On this basis, the injectable hydrogels can also be loaded with carriers with certain physiological and pharmacological effects, such as inorganic nanoparticles, drugs, and bioactive carriers, to achieve functions of antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, promoting collagen deposition, and vascular regeneration. Therefore they can promote wound healing well and have a great prospect in wound dressing. This review describes the mechanisms of DFU, summarizes the research progress of injectable carrier hydrogel systems in DFU repair, evaluates the advantages and disadvantages of various materials and the therapeutic principles of carriers, and proposes the challenges and development prospects of injectable carrier hydrogel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]