Refractory wound healing is one of the most common complications of diabetes. Excessive production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) can cause chronic inflammation and thus impair cutaneous wound healing. Scavenging these ROS in wound dressing may offer effective treatment for chronic wounds. Here, a nanocomposite hydrogel based on alginate and positively charged Eudragit nanoparticles containing edaravone, an efficient free radical scavenger, was developed for maximal ROS sequestration. Eudragit nanoparticles enhanced edaravone solubility and stability breaking the limitations in application. Furthermore, loading these Eudragit nanoparticles into an alginate hydrogel increased the protection and sustained the release of edaravone. The nanocomposite hydrogel is shown to promote wound healing in a dose-dependent way. A low dose of edaravone-loaded nanocomposite hydrogel accelerated wound healing in diabetic mice. On the contrary, a high dose of edaravone might hamper the healing. Those results indicated the dual role of ROS in chronic wounds. In addition, the discovery of this work pointed out that dose could be the key factor limiting the translational application of antioxidants in wound healing.
Wound healing is a complicated and multistage biological process for the repair of damaged/injured tissues, which requires intelligent designs to provide comprehensive and convenient treatment. Peptide‐based wound dressings have received extensive attention for further development and application due to their excellent biocompatibility and multifunctionality. However, the current lack of intuitive analysis of the development trend and research hotspots of peptides applied in wound healing, as well as detailed elaboration of possible research hotspots, restricted obtaining a comprehensive understanding and development in this field. The present study analysed publications from the Web of Science (WOS) Core Collection database and visualized the hotspots and current trends of peptide research in wound healing. Data between January 1st, 2003, and December 31st, 2022, were collected and subjected to a bibliometric analysis. The countries, institutions, co‐authorship, co‐citation reference, and co‐occurrence of keywords in this subject were examined using VOSviewer and CiteSpace. We provided an intuitive, timely, and logical overview of the development prospects and challenges of peptide application in wound healing and some solutions to the major obstacles, which will help researchers gain insights into the investigation of this promising field.
7 January 2026 in Naunyn-Schmiedeberg's Archives of Pharmacology