Recent progress in thermosensitive hydrogels and their applications in drug delivery area

Abstract

The scientific community has widely recognized thermosensitive hydrogels as highly biocompatible material with immense potential in drug delivery systems. When the temperature of these hydrogels approaches that of human body, a phase change occurs, enhancing their usefulness in a range of medical scenarios. This review article highlighted the background of thermosensitive hydrogels, their properties, and their applications in transdermal, oral, ophthalmic, intravaginal, nasal, rectal, cancer therapy, and cell‐loaded drug delivery systems. The literature suggests numerous advantages of these hydrogels over conventional drug delivery systems and find applications in various fields, such as therapeutic systems, filling processes, and sustained drug delivery systems. One of their key benefits is the ability to eliminate invasive procedures like surgery, providing a noninvasive alternative for drug administration. Moreover, they streamline the formulation process for both hydrophilic and hydrophobic drug delivery systems, simplifying the development of effective treatments. The thermosensitive hydrogels have been found to be green materials with negligible side effects and desirable drug delivery properties. The thermosensitive hydrogel's sustained‐release characteristics, immunogenicity, and biodegradability have also gained increased interest. Some of the disadvantages of thermosensitive hydrogels include delayed temperature response, weak mechanical characteristics, and poor biocompatibility, which limits their potential use in drug delivery applications.

Hydrogels and Wound Healing: Current and Future Prospects

“…Temperature has been identified as a handy parameter for the early identification of infection within the wound, as aberrant fluctuations in wound temperature can serve as an initial indicator of an infection before the manifestation of any other symptoms [93]. However, there are concerns associated with thermosensitive hydrogels, such as weak mechanical properties, poor biocompatibility, and a delayed temperature response [94].…”

Poly(Vinyl Alcohol)/Bovine Serum Albumin Hybrid Hydrogels with Tunable Mechanical Properties

“…Its occurrence improves the compatibility of materials with living organisms. The adhesive properties are poor if there is an excessive absorption of water from biological fluids into the pores (samples 11 and 12), especially at the hydrogel surface, decreasing the interfacial interactions between the hydrogel and the targeted tissue [65,66].…”

Stimuli-Responsive Hydrogels Potentiating Photothermal Therapy against Cancer Stem Cell–Induced Breast Cancer Metastasis

“…Local delivery strategies that directly administer drugs to the tumor site have been proposed as promising solutions to dramatically enhance delivery efficiency by avoiding long delivery routes and compromising side effects from drug absorption by other organs. − To date, stimuli-responsive hydrogels have gained special attention due to the possibility of manipulating the rheological behavior of the hydrogel according to different tumor microenvironment variations such as temperature, pH, light, ionic strength, and magnetic field. − Among these, thermosensitive hydrogels that incorporate photothermal agents can be triggered by incident near-infrared (NIR) light and undergo reversible phase transition, showing advantages such as deep tissue penetration and high spatiotemporal resolution. − Together with their intrinsic biocompatibility, adjustable drug-loading capabilities, and controllable drug release mechanisms, these types of hydrogels are promising drug delivery systems for terminating CSCs. − …”