A detailed insight into the role of nanosized drug carriers for the management of diabetic wounds

The chronic hyperglycaemic condition in diabetes patients leads to nerve and blood vessel damage, which causes neuropathy and peripheral vascular diseases. Furthermore, these pathological conditions severely affect the wound-healing process in diabetic patients. Compared to normal wounds, diabetic wounds display augmented infection, excessive free radicals, elevated inflammations, diminished collagen production, and reduced growth factor formation. Although several promising therapeutics exist, such as standard drugs, growth factors, cell therapy, etc., none ensures long-term efficacy. Therefore, it is essential to emphasize the need for developing novel therapeutics based on the pathophysiology of diabetic wounds. The literature was performed by using Google Scholar, PubMed and Scopus to construct a detailed review. Compared to other therapeutics modalities, nanosized drug carriers display an accelerated diabetic wound healing rate owing to their unique physicochemical and biological properties. These unique carriers can permeate deeper wound sites, stabilize the loaded drug against the surrounding harsh environment, and modulate the drug release pattern to achieve effective and faster healing. The nanosized drug carriers can deliver therapeutic drugs/biologicals for stimulating angiogenesis, accelerating wound-healing associated protein expression, treating infections, scavenging free radicals, and reducing inflammation. Furthermore, nanosized drug carriers can intrinsically act on the wound to elevate healing. In this review, an attempt has been made to comprehensively report the usage of different nanosized drug carriers for managing diabetic wounds.