Hydrogel wound dressings containing bioactive compounds originated from traditional Chinese herbs: A review

Various factors can cause skin defects, resulting in the loss of physiological functions and even death due to severe concurrent infection. Dressings are often clinically used to fully cover the wounds to improve healing. Hydrogel wound dressings can be loaded with therapeutic compounds (e.g., curcumin) within their three-dimensional networks to enable the in situ delivery of compounds at skin defects for wound healing. In recent decades, natural herbal active components have gradually gained worldwide recognition owing to their safe and diverse therapeutic effects, and an increasing number of bioactive components can be loaded into hydrogels or directly act as hydrogel matrices to enhance safety and achieve the desired therapeutic effects. In this review, twelve bioactive compounds from natural Chinese herbs that can promote wound healing and their mechanism of action are summarized, and the latest research progress in the use of Chinese herbal hydrogels for wound treatment is reviewed.