Innovative Functional Biomaterials as Therapeutic Wound Dressings for Chronic Diabetic Foot Ulcers

This narrative review examines the structure-function relationship in bioactive biopolymers used to promote healing in chronic wounds, emphasizing diabetic ulcers, and underscores the importance of characterizing these biopolymers to enhance their bioactivity for better tissue regeneration outcomes.

This study explored a dual-functional dressing with quaternized chitosan and magnesium, finding it enhanced wound healing and had strong antibacterial effects against drug-resistant bacteria in diabetic rat models with infected foot ulcers, suggesting promise for diabetic foot ulcer treatment.

This review reports that biopolymer-based hydrogels show promise as wound dressings due to their biocompatibility, moisture retention, and ability to mimic the extracellular matrix, though challenges in mass production, safety, and clinical validation remain.

In this study, composite dressings made from SP nanofibers, Megel hydrogel, and cotton nonwoven significantly accelerated wound healing in diabetic mice, achieving ∼98% closure within 18 days, while enhancing tissue regeneration and reducing inflammation.

This research systematically reviewed studies on natural-based hydrogel, hydrocolloid, and hydrofiber dressings for diabetic wound healing, finding they exhibit antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, and other beneficial effects, but noted the need for standardized models and regulatory compliance to enhance clinical translation.