Investigation of natural polymeric materials and their applications in wound healing

Biopolymers are polymers produced from natural sources either chemically syn thesized from a biological material or entirely biosynthesized by living organisms.The use of biopolymers as wound dressing has been investigated for many years and multitude biopolymer-based wound dressings are available in the market.The diverse compositions, adjustable physical behavior, and broad diversity of biopolymers have attracted much interest. Moreover, the relatively low cost and the renewable nature make this group of substances attractive to sectors such as the pharmaceutical and medical industries. Proteins and polysaccharides are biopolymers that are widely used in wound healing applications because of their ability to absorb high volumes of water and their formulation with drugs that allow controlled release into the target site. These biopolymers provide a suitable microenvironment for cell proliferation and cell migration, which are useful for early wound healing and prevent inflammations and scars. This article intends to provide an overview on the chemical and physical properties of biopolymers used in wound healing and how these properties are applied in dressings.ConclusionsBiopolymers and their derivatives are promising candidates for the engineering of wound dressings due to their unique biocompatibility, biodegradability, and flexibility in incorporating bioactive molecules to present multifunctional features of the wound dressings.

Keywords:

Biopolymers , wound dressing , alginate , chitosan , collagen