Carrageenan-Based Hydrogels for Advanced Wound Healing and Controlled Drug Delivery in Tissue Engineering

Abstract

Carrageenan (CGN) is a high molecular weight polysaccharide that is extracted from red seaweeds. It is made up of D-galactose residues connected by β-1,4 and α-1,3 galactose-galactose bonds. As a result of its ability to thicken, emulsify, and stabilize food, it is frequently used as a food additive in processed food. Its consumption has surged in recent years due to the Western diet's (WD) spread. Carrageenan has the ability to change the thickness of the mucus barrier, the composition of the gut microbiota, and the innate immune pathway that causes inflammation. Also, its inherent qualities, which include biodegradability, biocompatibility, resemblance to native glycosaminoglycans, antioxidants, anticancer, immunomodulatory, and anticoagulant activities, Carrageenan-based hydrogels have been the subject of numerous investigations lately for biomedical applications. The brittle hydrogel and uncontrollably exchanged ions, however, are two drawbacks to the application of this polysaccharide, but these can be avoided by making straightforward chemical changes to polymer networks, which create chemically bonded hydrogels with important mechanical characteristics and regulated degradation rates. Furthermore, the addition of diverse kinds of nanoparticles, as well as polymer networks, to carrageenan hydrogels results in hybrid platforms with noteworthy mechanical, chemical, and biological characteristics, which qualify them as appropriate biomaterials for tissue engineering (TE), drug delivery (DD), and also wound healing applications. Our goal in this article is to provide an overview of the most current developments in hybrid carrageenan-based platforms and several chemical modification techniques for TE and DD applications.