Hyaluronic acid/mildly crosslinked alginate hydrogel as an injectable tissue adhesion barrier

Although hyaluronic acid (HA) has been conventionally utilized as a tissue adhesion barrier material, its rapid clearance in the body still remains as a big challenge in the clinical practice. In this study, we prepared a hydrogel of HA embedded in mildly crosslinked alginate (HA/mcALG hydrogel), which is injectable, easily covers injured tissues, and remains stably at the applied site during wound healing (by muco-adhesive HA embedded in the network structure of the mcALG hydrogel). The HA/mcALG hydrogel was highly effective for the prevention of peritoneal tissue adhesion compared to HA and mcALG hydrogels, and did not lead to any abnormal tissue responses during wound healing. The HA/mcALG hydrogel can be a good candidate as an injectable tissue adhesion barrier for clinical applications.