Advancements in Skin Delivery of Natural Bioactive Products for Wound Management: A Brief Review of Two Decades

Abstract

Application of modern delivery techniques to natural bioactive products improves their permeability, bioavailability, and therapeutic efficacy. Many natural products have desirable biological properties applicable to wound healing but are limited by their inability to cross the stratum corneum to access the wound. Over the past two decades, modern systems such as microneedles, lipid-based vesicles, hydrogels, composite dressings, and responsive formulations have been applied to natural products such as curcumin or aloe vera to improve their delivery and efficacy. This article reviews which natural products and techniques have been formulated together in the past two decades and the success of these applications for wound healing. Many cultures prefer natural-product-based traditional therapies which are often cheaper and more available than their synthetic counterparts. Improving natural products’ effect can provide novel wound-healing therapies for those who trust traditional compounds over synthetic drugs to reduce medical inequalities.

Local Drug Delivery Strategies towards Wound Healing

“…The antioxidant activity of flavonoids, anthraquinones, and naphthoquinones is strong. Shikonin, alkanin, lawsone, emodin, epigallocatechin-3-gallate, ellagic acid, and a few herbal extracts have strong antioxidant effects by scavenging ROS, preventing lipid peroxidation, and boosting intracellular antioxidant enzyme activities such as superoxide dismutase, catalase, and glutathione peroxidase [ 3 , 8 ]. Additionally, herbal medication encourages angiogenesis, fibroblast cell growth, and the production of temporary ECM.…”

“…The chain of events necessary for wound healing can be disrupted by a variety of disease processes, leading to chronic, non-healing wounds that cause the patient great suffering and need a tremendous number of resources from the medical system. The coagulation cascade, inflammatory pathways, and the cellular components of the immune system are all activated during wound healing, which causes a significant modification of all skin compartments [ 3 ]. For expediting in vivo wound healing and minimising scar formation, cellular scaffolds containing fibroblasts, keratinocytes, stem/progenitor cells, or reprogrammed cells have shown promising outcomes.…”

Natural Compounds and Biomimetic Engineering to Influence Fibroblast Behavior in Wound Healing

“…In parallel, natural compounds from diverse biological reservoirs have been investigated for their capacity to promote wound tissue regeneration and repair [ 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 ]. These natural compounds can be used directly as treatments or as drug carriers for the delivery of other therapeutics.…”

A Comprehensive Review of Natural Compounds for Wound Healing: Targeting Bioactivity Perspective

“…Due to a vast number of natural compounds, reviews of those compounds would benefit readers and researchers in systematically finding interesting compounds and developing new products for wound healing treatment. Previously, many review papers discussed natural compounds for wound healing treatment [ 1 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 ]. For example, Ryall and colleagues discussed current advancements in skin delivery of natural bioactive compounds for wound management (e.g., turmeric, green tea, honey, garlic, aloe vera, etc.)…”

“…For example, Ryall and colleagues discussed current advancements in skin delivery of natural bioactive compounds for wound management (e.g., turmeric, green tea, honey, garlic, aloe vera, etc.) [ 4 ]. Vitale et al focused on medicinal plants’ phytochemistry and biological activity in wound healing [ 5 ].…”