ACTIVE PRINCIPLES APPLIED ON BIOMATERIALS FOR THE CURATIVE THERAPY OF INFLAMMATORY SKIN DISEASES - A REVIEW

Every year, millions of peoples are affected by skin injuries of either an acute or chronic nature. Worldwide 300,000 people die every year in lower-middle-income countries due to chronic wounds and burn injuries. Wounds are described as the disruption in the skin integrity and function, which arises from different causes such as trauma, surgery, diabetes, and burns. Skin provides a mechanical barrier against the external environment and has further roles in thermoregulation, metabolism and regulation of fluid balance. Skin diseases can affect each of these regions and they can be influenced by body size, sex, age, medications, diet, and microenvironment. Also, they can manifest whether the skin is healthy or diseased. Wound dressings are critical to wound care, providing a physical barrier between the wound and the external environment to prevent further damage or infection. The most promising wound dressings are biocompatible, enable physical protection of the wound milieu against penetration of bacteria and are highly porous. The use of natural biocompatible drugs is highly desirable in wound dressing compared to synthetic chemicals. To achieve an adequate therapeutic effect, different polymeric systems are used for drug delivery. To improve drug efficacy, safety, patient compliance and convenience a drug delivery system is modified to enhance drug release profile, absorption, distribution and elimination of the drug. The present review is an attempt to brief readers about the engineering of wound dressing materials from natural and synthetic sources upfront using active principles, such as bee products, drugs, essential oils, metallic nanoparticles and vitamins.