Hyaluronic acid, as a natural linear polysaccharide, has attracted researchers’ attention from its initial detection and isolation from tissues in 1934 until the present day. Due to biocompatibility and a high biodegradation of hyaluronic acid, it finds wide application in bioengineering and biomedicine: from biorevitalizing skin cosmetics and endoprostheses of joint fluid to polymeric scaffolds and wound dressings. However, the main properties of aqueous polysaccharide solutions with different molecular weights are different. Moreover, the therapeutic effect of hyaluronic acid-based preparations directly depends on the molecular weight of the biopolymer. The present review collects the information about relations between the molecular weight of hyaluronic acid and its original properties. Particular emphasis is placed on the structural, physical and physico-chemical properties of hyaluronic acid in water solutions, as well as their degradability.

Modern drug delivery systems demand the development of targeted polymer-carriers with the set of obligatory requirements. Thus, such capsules must have total biocompatibility, biodegradability, and possess non-allergenic, and non-tumorigenic properties. Hyaluronic acid (HA), as a natural linear polysaccharide that is included in the pericellular and extracellular matrixes, satisfies all these demands in the best possible way. In this study, the biopolymer nanoparticles with an average diameter of 300 nm were successfully obtained from aqueous HA solutions by electrospraying technique and characterized. Due to the presence of active functional groups in the structure of HA, such polymer particles can incorporate various pharmaceutical agents. This finding expands the investigation and subsequent application of drug-loaded nanoparticles based on HA as challenging and advanced targeted delivery systems.

Hyaluronic acid (HA) is a naturally occurring polymer that is found in variety of tissues and biological fluids. Due to its unique properties such as biodegradability and biocompatibility, HA can be applied in fabrication of nanofibers for tissue engineering and wound healing. Electrospinning as one of the methods of creating such structures allows to obtain fibers and particles with nano- and microscale from polymer solutions utilizing the high voltage power supply. However, the electrospinning process directly depends upon different parameters, including physical characteristics of the polymer solutions. This paper reviews physical properties of aqueous-organic HA solutions considering their suitability for electrospinning