Dual cross-linked honey coupled 3D antimicrobial alginate hydrogels for cutaneous wound healing

Selected honey as a multifaceted antimicrobial agent: review of compounds, mechanisms, and research challenges

Honey, derived from floral nectar, has been valued for its nutritional and therapeutic properties, with recent studies emphasizing its broad-spectrum antimicrobial potential, especially against antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Honey's antimicrobial activity stems from its unique composition, including high sugar content, low pH, and bioactive compounds like hydrogen peroxide, methylglyoxal (MGO), and phenolic compounds. Distinct honey types, such as Manuka, Sidr, and Tualang, demonstrate varying antimicrobial effects based on their botanical and geographical origins. Manuka honey, rich in MGO, is notably effective against multidrug-resistant pathogens, while Sidr and heather honeys excel in biofilm inhibition and antioxidative properties. Bioactive components, including phenolics, flavonoids, enzymes, and antimicrobial peptides, disrupt microbial membranes, inhibit metabolic pathways, and induce oxidative stress. Advanced analytical techniques like HPLC and GC-MS have identified these compounds, though gaps remain in understanding secondary metabolites and synergistic actions. This review highlights honey's potential as a sustainable antimicrobial resource, emphasizing the need for standardization, clinical validation, and interdisciplinary research. Honey represents a promising solution to AMR and offers opportunities for integration into modern medicine and healthcare strategies.

The Effects of Encapsulating Bioactive Irish Honey into Pluronic-Based Thermoresponsive Hydrogels and Potential Application in Soft Tissue Regeneration

Honey has been recognised for centuries for its potential therapeutic properties, and its application in wound healing has gained attention due to its antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, and regenerative properties. With the rapid increase in multidrug resistance, there is a need for new or alternative approaches to traditional antibiotics. This paper focuses on the physicochemical changes that occur when formulating honey into Pluronic F127 hydrogels. The manual incorporation of honey, irrespective of quality type, presented the amelioration of Pluronic's capacity to undergo sol-gel transitions, as investigated by parallel plate rheology. This novel finding was attributed to the formation of fractal aggregates via the hydrogen-bonding-induced irreversible aggregation of honey-PF127 micelles, which subsequently dominate the entire hydrogel system to form a gel. The hydrogen bonding of micelles was identified through Attenuated Total Reflectance Fourier-Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR), Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC), and Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS). This is the first known study to provide physicochemical insight into the effects that honey incorporation has on the thermogelation capacity of Pluronic F127 hydrogels for downstream dermal wound applications.

A Comprehensive Review of Honey-Containing Hydrogel for Wound Healing Applications

Honey has long been recognized for its medicinal properties, particularly in wound healing. Recent advancements in material science have led to the development of honey-containing hydrogels, combining the natural healing properties of honey with the versatile characteristics of hydrogel matrices. These hydrogels offer numerous advantages, including high moisture retention, biocompatibility, and the controlled release of bioactive compounds, making them highly effective for wound healing applications. Hydrogels hold significant potential in advancing medical applications, particularly for cutaneous injuries. The diverse properties of honey, including antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, and anti-eschar effects, have shown promise in accelerating tissue regeneration. According to studies, they are effective in maintaining a good swelling ratio index, Water Vapour Transmission Rate (WVTR), contact angle, tensile and elongation at break, in vitro biodegradation rate, viscosity and porosity analysis, lowering bacterial infections, and encouraging rapid tissue regeneration with notable FTIR peaks and SEM average pore sizes. However, limitations such as low bioavailability and inefficiencies in direct application reduce their therapeutic effectiveness at the wound site. Integrating honey into hydrogels can help preserve its wound healing mechanisms while enhancing its ability to facilitate skin tissue recovery. This review explores the underlying mechanisms of honey in wound healing management and presents an extensive analysis of honey-containing hydrogels reported in the literature over the past eight years. It emphasizes the physicochemical and mechanical effectiveness and advancements of honey-incorporated hydrogels in promoting skin wound healing and tissue regeneration, supported by evidence from both in vitro and in vivo studies. While honey-based therapies for wound healing have demonstrated promising outcomes in numerous in vitro and animal studies, clinical studies remain limited. Despite that, honey's incorporation into hydrogel systems, however, offers a potent fusion of contemporary material technology and natural healing qualities, marking a substantial breakthrough in wound treatment.

Marine-Derived Polysaccharide Hydrogels as Delivery Platforms for Natural Bioactive Compounds

Marine polysaccharide hydrogels have emerged as an innovative platform for regulating the in vivo release of natural bioactive compounds for medical purposes. These hydrogels, which have exceptional biocompatibility, biodegradability, and high water absorption capacity, create effective matrices for encapsulating different bioactive molecules. In addition, by modifying the physical and chemical properties of marine hydrogels, including cross-linking density, swelling behavior, and response to external stimuli like pH, temperature, or ionic strength, the release profile of encapsulated bioactive compounds is strictly regulated, thus maximizing therapeutic efficacy and minimizing side effects. Finally, by using naturally sourced polysaccharides in hydrogel formulations, sustainability is promoted by reducing dependence on synthetic polymers, meeting the growing demand for eco-friendly materials. This review analyzes the interaction between marine polysaccharide hydrogels and encapsulating compounds and offers examples of how bioactive molecules can be encapsulated, released, and stabilized.

Fabrication of crosslinker free hydrogels with diverse properties: An interplay of multiscale physical forces within polymer matrix

Physical/chemical crosslinking and surface-modifications of hydrogels have been extensively endorsed to enhance their biomaterial functionalities. The latter approaches involve using toxic crosslinkers or chemical modifications of the biopolymers, limiting the clinical translation of hydrogels beyond short-term promising results. The current study aims to tailor the polymer's structure to obtain customized applications using the same FDA-approved ingredients. PEGs of different molecular weights have been used to tune the van der Waal's forces, NaCl has been used to alter the electrostatic interactions of the charged polymers, and glycerol has been used to tweak the H-bonding. Same crosslinker-free sodium alginate/gelatin hydrogel formulation unfolds multiple properties: controlled-release, self-healing, mesh size, storage modulus, degradation rate. The hydrogels, lacking in one aspect, displayed superior performance in another. This study, including experiments and molecular simulations, illustrates that developing new materials may not always be necessary, as the same polymeric matrix can generate immense variations in different aspects.

Polysaccharide- and protein-based hydrogel dressings that enhance wound healing: A review

Hydrogels can possess desired biochemical and mechanical properties, excellent biocompatibility, satisfactory biodegradability, and biological capabilities that promote skin repair, making them ideal candidates for skin healing dressings. Polysaccharides, such as chitosan, hyaluronic acid and sodium alginate as well as proteins, including gelatin, collagen and fibroin proteins, are biological macromolecules celebrated for their biocompatibility and biodegradability, are at the forefront of innovative hydrogel dressing development. This work first summarizes the skin wound healing process and its influencing factors, and then systematically articulates the multifunctional roles of hydrogels based on biological macromolecules (polysaccharides and proteins) as dressing in addressing bacterial infection, hemorrhage and inflammation during wound healing. Furthermore, this review explores the potential of these hydrogels as vehicles for combination therapy, by incorporating growth factors or stem cells. Finally, the article offers insights into future directions of such hydrogels in wound repair field.

Asymmetric and Skin-Mimicking Hydrogels with Wide Temperature Tolerance and Superior Elasticity for High-Performance Strain Sensors

Wide temperature tolerance and superior mechanical properties are highly required for composite hydrogels in electronic applications such as electronic skins and soft robotics. In this work, a unique polyacrylamide-based and double-network hydrogel system is designed and fabricated by introducing graphene oxide and glycerol to improve mechanical properties as well as antifreezing and antiheating properties. Maximum stress of the graphene oxide-incorporated hydrogel increases rapidly to 500.0 kPa which is much higher than that of polymetric acrylamide/carboxymethylcellulose sodium hydrogel (281.7 kPa), probably due to the inhibition from graphene oxide in generation and propagation of cracks. With constantly adding glycerol, total elongation and antifreezing and heating properties of the composite hydrogels increase gradually. Especially, sample with 20 vol % of glycerol not only shows stable conductivity and wide temperature tolerance (-50 to 50 °C) but also has ideal strength-toughness match (597.6 kPa and 1263.4%), suggesting that synergistic effect of different layers in the asymmetric structure plays an active role in improvement of mechanical properties.

Multifunctional and theranostic hydrogels for wound healing acceleration: An emphasis on diabetic-related chronic wounds

Hydrogels represent intricate three-dimensional polymeric structures, renowned for their compatibility with living systems and their ability to naturally degrade. These networks stand as promising and viable foundations for a range of biomedical uses. The practical feasibility of employing hydrogels in clinical trials has been well-demonstrated. Among the prevalent biomedical uses of hydrogels, a significant application arises in the context of wound healing. This intricate progression involves distinct phases of inflammation, proliferation, and remodeling, often triggered by trauma, skin injuries, and various diseases. Metabolic conditions like diabetes have the potential to give rise to persistent wounds, leading to delayed healing processes. This current review consolidates a collection of experiments focused on the utilization of hydrogels to expedite the recovery of wounds. Hydrogels have the capacity to improve the inflammatory conditions at the wound site, and they achieve this by diminishing levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS), thereby exhibiting antioxidant effects. Hydrogels have the potential to enhance the growth of fibroblasts and keratinocytes at the wound site. They also possess the capability to inhibit both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, effectively managing wounds infected by drug-resistant bacteria. Hydrogels can trigger angiogenesis and neovascularization processes, while also promoting the M2 polarization of macrophages, which in turn mitigates inflammation at the wound site. Intelligent and versatile hydrogels, encompassing features such as pH sensitivity, reactivity to reactive oxygen species (ROS), and responsiveness to light and temperature, have proven advantageous in expediting wound healing. Furthermore, hydrogels synthesized using environmentally friendly methods, characterized by high levels of biocompatibility and biodegradability, hold the potential for enhancing the wound healing process. Hydrogels can facilitate the controlled discharge of bioactive substances. More recently, there has been progress in the creation of conductive hydrogels, which, when subjected to electrical stimulation, contribute to the enhancement of wound healing. Diabetes mellitus, a metabolic disorder, leads to a slowdown in the wound healing process, often resulting in the formation of persistent wounds. Hydrogels have the capability to expedite the healing of diabetic wounds, facilitating the transition from the inflammatory phase to the proliferative stage. The current review sheds light on the biological functionalities of hydrogels, encompassing their role in modulating diverse mechanisms and cell types, including inflammation, oxidative stress, macrophages, and bacteriology. Additionally, this review emphasizes the significance of smart hydrogels with responsiveness to external stimuli, as well as conductive hydrogels for promoting wound healing. Lastly, the discussion delves into the advancement of environmentally friendly hydrogels with high biocompatibility, aimed at accelerating the wound healing process.

Modulation of Biophysical Cues in Nature Inspired Patterning of Porous Silk Fibroin Scaffold for Replenishable Controlled Drug Delivery

While a sticking plasteris enough for healing of most of the minor cuts they may get routinely, critical situations like surgical, gunshot, accidental or diabetic wounds;lacarations and other cutaneous deep cuts may require implants and simultaneous medications for healing. From the biophysical standpoint, an internal force-based physical surface stimulusis crucial for cellular sensing during wound repair. In this paper, the authors report the fabrication of a porous, biomimmetically patterned silk fibroin scaffold loaded with ampicillin, which exhibits controlled release of the drug along with possible replenishment of the same. In vitro swelling study reveals that the scaffolds with hierarchical surface patterns exhibit lower swelling and degradation than other types of scaffolds. The scaffolds, that show remarkable broad-spectrum antibacterial efficacy, exhibit Korsemeyer-Peppas model for the ampicillin release patterns due to the structural hydrophobicity imparted by the patterns. Four distinct cell-matrix adhesion regimes are investigated for the fibroblasts to eventually form cell sheets all over the hierarchical surface structures. 4',6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI) and Fluorescein Diacetate (FDA) fluorescent staining clearly demonstrate the superiority of patterned surface over its other variants. A comparative immunofluorescence study among collagen I, vinculin, and vimentin expressions substantiated the patterned surface to be superior to others.

Bio-based polymers containing traditional medicinal fillers for wound healing applications - An evaluation of neoteric development and future perspectives

In recent years, health-care providers have seen more patients with difficult-to-treat wounds and burns. The biopolymer-based wound dressing protects the wounded area while assisting in the recovery of dermal and epithelial tissues throughout the healing process. The overall number of patients with chronic lesions has been expanding due to developing society, over weight, and cardiovascular illness. For the treatment of chronic wounds, there is an increasing demand for the development of ideal wound dressing materials with excellent properties such as antibacterial activity, biocompatibility, free radical scavenging capacity, non-adherent property, hydrophilicity, and so on. Nevertheless, owing to the above mention properties, natural polymers are being used for several key functions of biomedicine like narcotic distribution systems, tissue manufacturing, bandages, and so on. Accordingly, the significance of these bio-based polymers interfered with healing functions that lead to informing and inspiring youth and scientist researchers worldwide to grab with these far-reaching areas of medicine and biology. The review highlights the physiochemical properties of natural polymers, the biological evaluation of various materials as wound dressings, their synthesis and mechanical properties, clinical status, challenges, and future perspectives.

Evaluation of multicomplex systems on pomegranate concentrate loaded alginate hydrogels by low-field NMR relaxometry: physicochemical characterization and controlled release study

Alginate (ALG) and various gums are potential biomaterials to be employed in hydrogel designs for both food and biomedical applications. This study evaluated a multicomplex design by combining food grade polymers to examine their polymer-polymer interactions and design an oral delivery system for pomegranate concentrate (PC). ALG was replaced with gum tragacanth (GT), xanthan (XN) and their equal combinations (GT:XN) at 50% ratio in hydrogel fabrication. In addition to CaCI2 in binding solution, honey (H) and chitosan (CH) were also used during physical crosslinking. Relaxation time constants in NMR indicated poor ability of GT for water entrapment especially in the presence of honey (S2H). They also confirmed FTIR results indicating similar trends. Strong negative correlations were observed between T2 and texture results. GT replacement of ALG especially in the use of single CaCI2 (S2) promoted higher PC release up to 80% in digestive media compared to XN substitution (S3). This study promoted use of LF NMR as an indicator for polymer mixture characterization in complex gels. ALG based gels could be modified by replacing ALG with different kinds of gums and with use of different binding solutions to regulate target compound release in food and pharmaceutical fields.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s13197-023-05730-2.

A review on the synthesis and development of alginate hydrogels for wound therapy

Convenient and low-cost dressings can reduce the difficulty of wound treatment. Alginate gel dressings have the advantages of low cost and safe usage, and they have obvious potential for development in biomedical materials. Alginate gel dressings are currently a research area of great interest owing to their versatility, intelligent, and their application attempts in treating complex wounds. We present a detailed summary of the preparation of alginate hydrogels and a study of their performance improvement. Herein, we summarize the various applications of alginate hydrogels. The research focuses in this area mainly include designing multifunctional dressings for the treatment of various wounds and fabricating specialized dressings to assist physicians in the treatment of complex wounds (TOC). This review gives an outlook for future directions in the field of alginate hydrogel dressings. We hope to attract more research interest and studies in alginate hydrogel dressings, thus contributing to the creation of low-cost and highly effective wound treatment materials.

Alginate-Based Hydrogels and Scaffolds for Biomedical Applications

Alginate is a natural polymer of marine origin and, due to its exceptional properties, has great importance as an essential component for the preparation of hydrogels and scaffolds for biomedical applications. The design of biologically interactive hydrogels and scaffolds with advanced, expected and required properties are one of the key issues for successful outcomes in the healing of injured tissues. This review paper presents the multifunctional biomedical applications of alginate-based hydrogels and scaffolds in selected areas, highlighting the key effect of alginate and its influence on the essential properties of the selected biomedical applications. The first part covers scientific achievements for alginate in dermal tissue regeneration, drug delivery systems, cancer treatment, and antimicrobials. The second part is dedicated to our scientific results obtained for the research opus of hydrogel materials for scaffolds based on alginate in synergy with different materials (polymers and bioactive agents). Alginate has proved to be an exceptional polymer for combining with other naturally occurring and synthetic polymers, as well as loading bioactive therapeutic agents to achieve dermal, controlled drug delivery, cancer treatment, and antimicrobial purposes. Our research was based on combinations of alginate with gelatin, 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate, apatite, graphene oxide and iron(III) oxide, as well as curcumin and resveratrol as bioactive agents. Important features of the prepared scaffolds, such as morphology, porosity, absorption capacity, hydrophilicity, mechanical properties, in vitro degradation, and in vitro and in vivo biocompatibility, have shown favorable properties for the aforementioned applications, and alginate has been an important link in achieving these properties. Alginate, as a component of these systems, proved to be an indispensable factor and played an excellent “role” in the optimal adjustment of the tested properties. This study provides valuable data and information for researchers and demonstrates the importance of the role of alginate as a biomaterial in the design of hydrogels and scaffolds that are powerful medical “tools” for biomedical applications.

Bibliometric analysis of the use of calcium alginate for wound dressing applications: A review

Wounds can cause many disorders and affect the quality of health, so it is necessary to develop wound dressings that have a role in accelerating the healing process. Wound dressings have evolved over time, and today there are many types of wound dressings that can suit the type of wound the patient has. This review discusses the development, types, and research directions of wound dressings from calcium alginate (CaAlg), using bibliometric analysis with time intervals from 1982 to 2021. It was found that, in the late 1990s, research related to this matter began to increase. United Kingdom, United States, China, Japan, and Italy are the five most influential countries. And from the results of the keyword analysis, it was found that, in addition to studying the general properties of wound dressings, currently there are many developments related to the structure of the material as well as the effect of adding drugs to wound dressings, so that the current study also displays various characterizations.

Chitosan-alginate nanoparticles of cabazitaxel: Design, dual-receptor targeting and efficacy in lung cancer model

Cabazitaxel (CZT) loaded chitosan-alginate based (CSA) nanoparticles were developed with dual targeting functions of both folate receptor and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) using ionic gelation technique. The chitosan-folate conjugate was synthesized, and characterized by using FTIR, NMR and Mass spectroscopy. The physicochemical parameters and morphology of all CSA nanoparticles were examined. The degree of conjugation of folic acid and cetuximab (CTXmab) was determined by UV-Visible spectroscopy and Bradford assay, respectively. Moreover, XPS analysis also supported the presence of the ligands on nanoparticles. The cellular-uptake study performed on A-549 cells demonstrated a significant enhancement in the uptake of dual-receptor targeted CSA nanoparticles than non-targeted and single-receptor targeted CSA nanoparticles. Further, CZT-loaded dual receptors targeted CSA nanoparticles also showed significantly lower IC50 values (~38 folds) than the CZT control against A-549 cells. Further, in-vivo histopathological evaluations of dual receptor-targeted CSA nanoparticles have demonstrated better safety in Wistar rats. Moreover, its treatment on the Benzo(a)pyrene (B(a)P) induced lung cancer mice model has showed the enhanced anticancer efficacy of CZT with a prolonged survival rate.

Honey: An Advanced Antimicrobial and Wound Healing Biomaterial for Tissue Engineering Applications

Honey was used in traditional medicine to treat wounds until the advent of modern medicine. The rising global antibiotic resistance has forced the development of novel therapies as alternatives to combat infections. Consequently, honey is experiencing a resurgence in evaluation for antimicrobial and wound healing applications. A range of both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, including antibiotic-resistant strains and biofilms, are inhibited by honey. Furthermore, susceptibility to antibiotics can be restored when used synergistically with honey. Honey’s antimicrobial activity also includes antifungal and antiviral properties, and in most varieties of honey, its activity is attributed to the enzymatic generation of hydrogen peroxide, a reactive oxygen species. Non-peroxide factors include low water activity, acidity, phenolic content, defensin-1, and methylglyoxal (Leptospermum honeys). Honey has also been widely explored as a tissue-regenerative agent. It can contribute to all stages of wound healing, and thus has been used in direct application and in dressings. The difficulty of the sustained delivery of honey’s active ingredients to the wound site has driven the development of tissue engineering approaches (e.g., electrospinning and hydrogels). This review presents the most in-depth and up-to-date comprehensive overview of honey’s antimicrobial and wound healing properties, commercial and medical uses, and its growing experimental use in tissue-engineered scaffolds.

Regenerative repair of full thickness skin wound assisted by dual crosslinking percolative gel casting maneuvered alginate hydrogel embedded with honey ghee blend resembles standard cutaneous properties

We report synergism in scarless cutaneous wound repair by alginate hydrogel (HGSAG) embedded with an optimized blend of characterized Jamun honey and characterized indigenously prepared ghee. Thorough screening and characterization of honey and ghee are carried out followed by obtaining a novel dual crosslinking percolative gel casting fabrication method to come up with HGSAG showing superior chemical stability, and mechanical strength (Nanoindentation study; lowest stiffness: 0.71 ± 0.19 μN/nm), and surface morphology (SEM; highest roughness: 0.13 ± 0.04 μm) to other variants. In vitro swelling study and degradation behavior study show intermediate swelling (swelling index: 0.59 ± 0.008 in 98 h) and required restricted degradation (PBS: 73.38 ± 0.55%, DMEM: 83.48 ± 0.69% in 10 days) for HGSAG which is necessary for providing nutrients to cells and in vivo therapeutic efficacy. We observe the remarkable antibacterial efficacy of HGSAG against Staphylococcus mutans and Escherichia coli. This particular substrate also shows decent 3T3 fibroblasts viability, cell-cell communication followed by cell-matrix interaction, and proliferation compared to other variants. Molecular gene expression studies by quantitative RT-PCR technique reveal strong upregulation of collagen I, CD26, and TGF-β3 while downregulation in the case of TGF-β1 which eventually substantiates scarless wound healing potential of HGSAG. Wound closure kinetics is most rapidly and successfully underpinned by HGSAG while compared to other alternatives including marketed healing patches. Regular close monitoring using histopathological studies and real-time imaging by Swept-Source Optical Coherence Tomography of in vivo wound model treated with HGSAG come up with the fascinating result of scarless healing (HGSAG treated epithelial thickness: 62.96 ± 0.67 μm, unwounded akin epithelial thickness: 62.56 ± 0.34 μm) within 12 days of wounding. Thus, the work highlights modified and stabilized alginate hydrogel embedded with honey and ghee blend as a potential scarless full-thickness cutaneous wound healing bio-scaffold.

Preparation of aloe polysaccharide/honey/PVA composite hydrogel: Antibacterial activity and promoting wound healing

Maintaining a moist and sterile environment is conducive to accelerating wound healing. To develop a natural wound dressing with good water retention capacity and antibacterial activity, we prepared a novel natural multifunctional hydrogel for infected wound healing, which combines the advantages of Aloe polysaccharide (AP) and honey. AP was extracted from Aloe barbadensis, and its structure was characterized by fourier transform infra-red (FT-IR) spectoscopy and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. AP is an acetylated mannan composed of (1 → 4)β-Manp, which is acetylated at C-2, C-3 and C-6 positions. AP/Honey@PVA hydrogel was prepared by cross-linking AP, honey, PVA with borax, which has good mechanical strength and excellent biocompatibility for blood cells, NIH-3T3 cells and L929 cells. The hydrogels showed significant inhibitory effect on Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli and Candida albicans, as well as accelerated the healing of infected full-thickness wound. This study reveals the structure of AP and proves that AP and honey composite hydrogel has potential application prospect in the therapy of infected wounds.

A Review on Recent Progress of Stingless Bee Honey and Its Hydrogel-Based Compound for Wound Care Management

Stingless bee honey has a distinctive flavor and sour taste compared to Apis mellifera honey. Currently, interest in farming stingless bees is growing among rural residents to meet the high demand for raw honey and honey-based products. Several studies on stingless bee honey have revealed various therapeutic properties for wound healing applications. These include antioxidant, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, and moisturizing properties related to wound healing. The development of stingless bee honey for wound healing applications, such as incorporation into hydrogels, has attracted researchers worldwide. As a result, the effectiveness of stingless bee honey against wound infections can be improved in the future to optimize healing rates. This paper reviewed the physicochemical and therapeutic properties of stingless bee honey and its efficacy in treating wound infection, as well as the incorporation of stingless bee honey into hydrogels for optimized wound dressing.

Applications of Alginate-Based Nanomaterials in Enhancing the Therapeutic Effects of Bee Products

Since the ancient times, bee products (i.e., honey, propolis, pollen, bee venom, bee bread, and royal jelly) have been considered as natural remedies with therapeutic effects against a number of diseases. The therapeutic pleiotropy of bee products is due to their diverse composition and chemical properties, which is independent on the bee species. This has encouraged researchers to extensively study the therapeutic potentials of these products, especially honey. On the other hand, amid the unprecedented growth in nanotechnology research and applications, nanomaterials with various characteristics have been utilized to improve the therapeutic efficiency of these products. Towards keeping the bee products as natural and non-toxic therapeutics, the green synthesis of nanocarriers loaded with these products or their extracts has received a special attention. Alginate is a naturally produced biopolymer derived from brown algae, the desirable properties of which include biodegradability, biocompatibility, non-toxicity and non-immunogenicity. This review presents an overview of alginates, including their properties, nanoformulations, and pharmaceutical applications, placing a particular emphasis on their applications for the enhancement of the therapeutic effects of bee products. Despite the paucity of studies on fabrication of alginate-based nanomaterials loaded with bee products or their extracts, recent advances in the area of utilizing alginate-based nanomaterials and other types of materials to enhance the therapeutic potentials of bee products are summarized in this work. As the most widespread and well-studied bee products, honey and propolis have garnered a special interest; combining them with alginate-based nanomaterials has led to promising findings, especially for wound healing and skin tissue engineering. Furthermore, future directions are proposed and discussed to encourage researchers to develop alginate-based stingless bee product nanomedicines, and to help in selecting suitable methods for devising nanoformulations based on multi-criteria decision making models. Also, the commercialization prospects of nanocomposites based on alginates and bee products are discussed. In conclusion, preserving original characteristics of the bee products is a critical challenge in developing nano-carrier systems. Alginate-based nanomaterials are well suited for this task because they can be fabricated without the use of harsh conditions, such as shear force and freeze-drying, which are often used for other nano-carriers. Further, conjunction of alginates with natural polymers such as honey does not only combine the medicinal properties of alginates and honey, but it could also enhance the mechanical properties and cell adhesion capacity of alginates.

"Green" Biomaterials: The Promising Role of Honey

The development of nanotechnology has allowed us to better exploit the potential of many natural compounds. However, the classic nanotechnology approach often uses both dangerous and environmentally harmful chemical compounds and drastic conditions for synthesis. Nevertheless, “green chemistry” techniques are revolutionizing the possibility of making technology, also for tissue engineering, environmentally friendly and cost-effective. Among the many approaches proposed and among several natural compounds proposed, honey seems to be a very promising way to realize this new “green” approach.

The Rediscovery of Honey for Skin Repair: Recent Advances in Mechanisms for Honey-Mediated Wound Healing and Scaffolded Application Techniques

Honey is a honey-bee product obtained mainly by the enzymatic processing of nectar from a variety of plants, which leads to the wide range of colours and flavours available on the market. These organoleptic and nutritional features are influenced by the chemical composition, which in turn depends on the botanical origin. Bioactive compounds account for honey beneficial activity in medical applications, which explains the extensive use of honey in ethno-pharmacology since antiquity, from cough remedies to dermatological treatments. Wound healing is one of the main therapeutic uses of honey, and various design options in pharmaceutical technology such as smart delivery systems and advanced dressings are currently being developed to potentiate honey’s valuable properties for better performance and improved final outcome. In this review, we will focus on the latest research that discloses crucial factors in determining what properties are most beneficial when considering honey as a medicinal product. We will present the most recent updates on the possible mechanisms responsible for the exceptional effects of this ageless therapeutical remedy on skin repair. Furthermore, the state-of-the-art in application techniques (incorporation into scaffolds as an alternative to direct administration) used to enhance honey-mediated wound-healing properties are explored.

Improved Mesenchymal Stem Cell Proliferation, Differentiation, Epithelial Transition, and Restrained Senescence on Hierarchically Patterned Porous Honey Silk Fibroin Scaffolds

We report a significant improvement of adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells' (ADMSCs) biocompatibility and proliferation on hierarchically patterned porous honey-incorporated silk fibroin scaffolds fabricated using a combination of soft lithography and freeze-drying techniques. Parametric variations show enhanced surface roughness, swelling, and degradation rate with good pore interconnectivity, porosity, and mechanical strength for soft-lithographically fabricated biomimetic microdome arrays on the 2% honey silk fibroin scaffold (PHSF2) as compared to its other variants, which eventually made PHSF2 more comparable to the native environment required for stem cell adhesion and proliferation. PHSF2 also exhibits sustained honey release with remarkable antibacterial efficacy against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Honey incorporation (biochemical cue) influences microdome structural features, that is, biophysical cues (height, width, and periodicity), which further allows ADMSCs pseudopods (filopodia) to grasp the microdomes for efficient cell-cell communication and cell-matrix interaction and regulates ADMSCs behavior by altering their cytoskeletal rearrangement and thereby increases the cellular spreading area and cell sheet formation. The synergistic effect of biochemical (honey) and biophysical (patterns) cues on ADMSCs studied by the nitro blue tetrazolium assay and DCFDA fluorescence spectroscopy reveals limited free radical generation within cells. Molecular expression studies show a decrease in p53 and p21 expressions validating ADMSCs senescence inhibition, which is further correlated with a decrease in cellular senescence-associated β galactosidase activity. We also show that an increase in CDH1 and CK19 molecular expressions along with an increase in SOX9, RUNX2, and PPARγ molecular expressions supported by PHSF2 justify the substrate's efficacy of underpinning mesenchymal to epithelial transition and multilineage trans-differentiation. This work highlights the fabrication of a naturally healing nutraceutical (honey)-embedded patterned porous stand-alone tool with the potential to be used as smart stem cells delivering regenerative healing implant.

The Potential of Honeybee Products for Biomaterial Applications

The development of biomaterials required continuous improvements in their properties for new tissue engineering applications. Implants based on biocompatible materials and biomaterial-based dressings are susceptible to infection threat; moreover, target tissues can suffer injuring inflammation. The inclusion of nature-derived bioactive compounds usually offers a suitable strategy to expand or increase the functional properties of biomaterial scaffolds and can even promote tissue healing. Honey is traditionally known for its healing property and is a mixture of phytochemicals that have a proven reputation as antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant agents. This review discusses on the potential of honey and other honeybee products for biomaterial improvements. Our study illustrates the available and most recent literature reporting the use of these natural products combined with different polymeric scaffolds, to provide original insights in wound healing and other tissue regenerative approaches.