hydrogels

The use of microgels is one way of biomimetically mimicking tissue. In the presented study, chitosan microgels will be functionalized with Zn (II) and Cu (II) ions to improve their physicochemical properties.

3D bioprinting can improve the treatment of wounds by producing multifunctional, personalized wound dressings. In the study presented here, hydrogel wound dressings based on galantine, sodium alginate, dopamine and quaternized chitosan with effective antioxidant, antibacterial and biocompatible properties will be fabricated via using this technology.

More than 5 million people worldwide are affected by inflammatory bowel disease. To enable good treatment, targeted and efficient drug delivery is necessary. In the presented study, a chitosan-based vancomycin loaded microgel was investigated for this purpose.

Hydrogels can have versatile applications in biomedicine by forming a 3D network. In the study presented here, an antibacterial, adhesive, self-repairing hydrogel was prepared from carboxymethylchitosan (CMC) and oligomeric polycyanidin (OPC) and the influence of OPC content was investigated.

Deeper skin injuries require appropriate wound dressings to promote healing. In the presented study, CMC-containing hyaluronic acid-dopamine hydrogels were synthesized, characterized and investigated in vivo for their wound healing properties.

Chronic, painful diseases such as endometriosis can lead to a severe reduction in the quality of life of those affected. Drug delivery systems, such as chitosan-containing hydrogels, could enable efficient pain management with prolonged and targeted drug release. Therefore, in the study presented here, hydrogels made of chitosan and the vanillin derivative 2-hydroxy-5-nitrobenzaldehyde were investigated as a drug delivery system for diclofenac sodium salt.

Chitosan and chitosan derivatives have different properties due to molecular parameters, such as degree of deacetylation and molecular weight. In this article, we present a paper that examined the effect of these parameters on the hemostatic effect of chitosan. Another topic is the long-term stability of chitosan hydrogels according to ICH guidelines.

At the end of the year, we briefly reflect on which topics it was all about in the chitosan world in 2017. In addition, we present an article about Alzheimer´s disease and the neuroprotective effect of chitosan, chitosanoligosaccharides, and their derivatives.

• Overview about 2017
• Directly to treatment of Alzheimer´s disease with chitosan?

Functional coatings are applied to improve resistance of implants like artificial heart valves or coronary stents against various impacts in the human body. One problem is the formation of biofilms on the implant surface, which limits communication of the implant with the surrounding area and might induce inflammatory reactions. In addition, nature of the implant material can promote the formation of blood clots, which leads to blocked arteries.

In April 2017, 252 articles about chitosan and chitosan derivatives were published. The International Journal of Biological Macromolecules published the highest number of chitosan-related articles (23), followed by Colloids and Surfaces B: Biointerfaces (7) and Carbohydrate Polymers (6). Researchers from China (48 articles) are as usually on the top of the list of leading countries in chitosan research. Germany can also be found among the top 10, with 5 publications in April 2017.

This month we deal with chitosan for skin tissue engineering. In 2016, 129 articles about “chitosan” and “tissue engineering” were published. Most publications were written by researchers from China (42 articles), India (14) and the United States (14).

In October 2016, 375 publications about chitosan were released by researchers from China (99 article), United States (31) und India (30) among others. Main issue was chitosan combined with nanoparticels, pharmaceutical preparations and tissue.

There are various applications of chitosan hydrogels. Chitosan-based materials can be used as scaffold, wound dressing or bone implant. Here, we present two studies which investigated chitosan hydrogels regarding the manipulation of structure properties as well as utilization in an animal model.

The development of the chitosan research and chitosan application is steadily proceeding. More than 2100 reports about chitosan and chitosan derivatives were published in 2015. The highest number of publications was performed by the leading nations China (589), India (250), the United States (214) and the European area as a whole.

Overall, 122 articles about chitosan were published worldwide in December 2011. China was the top publisher of the month again.

China:     32 articles
Indien:     9 articles
USA:     8 articles

After dropping in the previous months, the publication number of chitosan articles slightly increased in July. Overall 76 articles were published in this field. In July 2010 83 articles were published, in comparison to this year it is only a small difference.