The Role of Hyaluronic Acid in Wound Healing

Abstract

Hyaluronic acid (hyaluronan), a naturally occurring polymer within the skin, has been extensively studied since its discovery in 1934. It has been used in a wide range of medical fields as diverse as orthopedics and cosmetic surgery, but it is in tissue engineering that it has been primarily advanced for treatment. The breakdown products of this large macromolecule have a range of properties that lend it specifically to this setting and also to the field of wound healing. It is non-antigenic and may be manufactured in a number of forms, ranging from gels to sheets of solid material through to lightly woven meshes. Epidermal engraftment is superior to most of the available biotechnologies and, as such, the material shows great promise in both animal and clinical studies of tissue engineering. Ongoing work centers around the ability of the molecule to enhance angiogenesis and the conversion of chronic wounds into acute wounds.

Non-viral vector delivery from PEG-hyaluronic acid hydrogels

“…The broader range of values for HA/PEG hydrogels relative to the pure hydrogels reflects the varied molecular weight of PEG and HA and the range of polymer concentrations used for hydrogel formation. Addition of viscoelastic HA, which has a MW of 10 3 kDa, significantly enhances the swelling ratio of hydrogels composed primarily of PEG (MW=10 kDa) [21]. In this report, increasing the PEG concentration decreased the swelling ratio, which is consistent with previous observations of PEG hydrogels [33].…”

“…In our system, the synthetic polymer PEG is non-degradable and provides stability to the hydrogel, whereas the natural polymer HA provides for cellular interactions, and can be degraded enzymatically [20,21,29]. HA is a natural component of many connective tissues, has a significant role in wound healing, and has been used in regenerative medicine [20,21].…”

“…Hydrogels are formed from a combination of PEG and HA. PEG is used for regulating and maintaining the hydrogel stability, while HA is chosen to alter the backbone charge and enable hydrogel degradation by the enzyme hyaluronidase (HAase) [20,21]. The biopolymers are modified with acrylate groups to enable hydrogel formation by photocrosslinking, a relatively mild technique that can maintain the bioactivity of encapsulated vectors.…”

Proteases and Delayed Wound Healing

“…Hyaluronic acid (HA), for example, is a major component of early granulation tissue and its degradation products seem to be proactive in wound healing. 15,16 There is also variation in the levels of HA between fetal and adult wound healing, with persistently higher levels of HA present in fetal wounds, which ultimately heal without scarring. 15,17 The formation of a scar is a natural phenomenon that occurs following normal wound healing.…”

Three-dimensional culture models of mammary gland

“…65 The use of composite scaffolds may remedy some of these problems for example, the addition of the mucopolysaccharide hyaluronan to collagen scaffolds improves scaffold integrity by reducing mass loss (unpublished findings from our group). It is also noted to harbor angiogenic properties, 66 suitable for supporting the highly vascular nature of adipose 67 and is chemically modifiable. 68,69 The utilization of mesenchymal progenitors and preadipocyte cell lines in place of mature adipocytes may prove advantageous.…”