Title:Release of Growth Factors, Cytokines and Therapeutic Molecules by Hyaluronan-based Hydrogels
Volume: 13
Issue: 7
Author(s): Robert A. Peattie
Affiliation:
Keywords:
Hyaluronan, hydrogels, cytokines, growth factors, biomaterials.
Abstract: Hyaluronan (HA) is a highly biocompatible biopolymer that is widely used for a variety of therapeutic purposes
including surgical preparations, adhesion prevention, viscosupplementation and drug and cytokine delivery. Delivery can
be accomplished effectively when HA-based carriers are synthesized in the form of hydrogels, though doing so normally
requires chemical modification of the native HA structure. Solute delivery from HA-based gels can be either “simple”,
that is from a gel not including separate components intended to control release, or “regulated” when specific components
are included for that purpose. A variety of modified forms of HA have been developed and used for delivery of desired
molecules in therapeutic, clinical, veterinary and laboratory research environments, and the number of such applications is
likely to grow in future years.
