Infection and Drug Resistance (Jan 2023)
Medical Applications of Hydrogels in Skin Infections: A Review
Abstract
Yan Teng,1 Sujing Li,2 Hui Tang,2 Xiaohua Tao,1 Yibin Fan,1,* Youming Huang1,* 1Center for Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery, Department of Dermatology, Zhejiang Provincial People’s Hospital, Affiliated People’s Hospital of Hangzhou Medical College, Hangzhou, 310014, People’s Republic of China; 2Graduate School of Clinical Medicine, Bengbu Medical College, Bengbu, 233030, People’s Republic of China*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Youming Huang; Yibin Fan, Center for Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery, Department of Dermatology, Zhejiang Provincial People’s Hospital, Affiliated People’s Hospital of Hangzhou Medical College, Tel +86-18368023136 ; +86-18806538451, Email [email protected]; [email protected]: Skin infections are common diseases for which patients seek inpatient and outpatient medical care. Globally, an increasing number of people are affected by skin infections that could lead to physical and psychological damage. Skin infections always have a broad spectrum of clinical presentations that require physicians to make an aggressive and accurate diagnosis for prescribing the proper symptomatic antimicrobials. In most instances, the treatment for skin infections mainly includes oral or topical anti-infective drugs. However, some of the classical anti-infective drugs have limitations, such as poor water solubility, low bioavailability, and poor targeting efficiency, which can lead to poor efficacy, adverse effects, and drug resistance. Therefore, research priorities should focus on the development of more effective drug delivery systems with new materials. Hydrogels are a highly multifunctional class of medical materials with potential applications in dermatology. Several hydrogel dressings with anti-infective functions have been formulated and demonstrated to improve the efficacy and tolerance of oral or topical classical anti-infective drugs to a certain degree. In this study, the medical applications of hydrogels for the treatment of various skin infections are systematically reviewed to provide an important theoretical reference for future research studies on the treatment options for skin infections.Keywords: hydrogel, dermatology, skin infections, anti-infective agent, drug delivery systems
