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Hydrogels have attracted widespread attention for breaking the bottlenecks faced during facile drug delivery. To date, the preparation of jelly carriers for hydrophobic drugs remains challenging. In this study, by evaporating ethanol to drive the formation of hydrogen bonds, hydrophilic poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) and certain hydrophobic compounds [luteolin (LUT), quercetin (QUE), and myricetin (MYR)] were rapidly prepared into supramolecular hydrogel within 10 min. The gelation performance of these three hydrogels changed regularly with the changing sequence of LUT, QUE, and MYR. An investigation of the gelation pathway of these hybrid gels reveals that the formation of this type of gel follows a simple supramolecular self-assembly process, called "hydrophobe−hydrophile crosslinked gelation". Because the hydrogen bond between PVA and the drug is noncovalent and reversible, the hydrogel has good plasticity and self-healing properties, while the drugs can be controllably released by tuning the output stimuli. Using a rat sidewall-cecum abrasion adhesion model, the as-prepared hydrogel was highly efficient and safe in preventing postsurgical adhesion. This work provides a useful archetypical template for researchers interested in the efficient delivery and controllable release of hydrophobic drugs.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has posed severe threats to human health, public safety, and the global economy. Metal nutrient elements can directly or indirectly take part in human immune responses, and metal-related drugs have served as antiviral drugs and/or enzyme inhibitors for many years, providing potential solutions to the prevention and treatment of COVID-19. Metal-based drugs are currently under a variety of chemical structures and exhibit wide-range bioactivities, demonstrating irreplaceable advantages in pharmacology. This review is an intention to summarize recent progress in the prevention and treatment strategies against COVID-19 from the perspective of metal pharmacology. The current and potential utilization of metal-based drugs is briefly introduced. Specifically, metallohydrogels that have been shown to present superior antiviral activities are stressed in the paper as potential drugs for the treatment of COVID-19. Graphic abstract