In this work, synthesis and investigations on chitosan-based hydrogels modified with Aloe vera juice are presented. These materials were synthesized by UV radiation. Investigations involved analysis of chemical structure by FTIR spectroscopy, sorption properties in physiological liquids, strength properties by texture analyzer, surface topography by Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM technique), and in vitro cytotoxicity by MTT test using L929 murine fibroblasts. Particular attention was focused both on determining the impact of the amount and the molecular weight of the crosslinker used for the synthesis as well as on the introduced additive on the properties of hydrogels. It was proven that modified hydrogels exhibited higher swelling ability. Introduced additive affected the tensile strength of hydrogels—modified materials showed 23% higher elongation. The greater amount of the crosslinker used in the synthesis, the more compact the structure, leading to the lower elasticity and lower sorption of hydrogels was reported. Above 95%, murine fibroblasts remained viable after 24 h incubation with hydrogels. It indicates that tested materials did not exhibit cytotoxicity toward these lines. Additionally, materials with Aloe vera juice were characterized by lower surface roughness. Conducted investigations allowed us to state that such modified hydrogels may be considered as useful for biomedical purposes.

Regenerative medicine is becoming a rapidly evolving technique in today’s biomedical progress scenario. Scientists around the world suggest the use of naturally synthesized biomaterials to repair and heal damaged cells. Hydroxyapatite (HAp) has the potential to replace drugs in biomedical engineering and regenerative drugs. HAp is easily biodegradable, biocompatible, and correlated with macromolecules, which facilitates their incorporation into inorganic materials. This review article provides extensive knowledge on HAp and collagen-containing compositions modified with drugs, bioactive components, metals, and selected nanoparticles. Such compositions consisting of HAp and collagen modified with various additives are used in a variety of biomedical applications such as bone tissue engineering, vascular transplantation, cartilage, and other implantable biomedical devices.