Manuka Honey-Gellan Gum based Hydrogels with antibacterial features for cartilage applications

Cartilage repair represents a complex challenge for clinicians due to the tissue poor self-healing capability and chondrocytes limited expansion capacity in vitro that strongly limits autologous implantation. Within biomaterials, hydrogels represent a very attractive tool to promote cartilage repair: indeed, it is possible to tune their water content and lubricating properties to mimic cartilage extracellular matrix. Despite these evident advantages, hydrogels application is still limited by their unsuitable mechanical properties and lack of any antibacterial activity which makes the implantation prone to infection. Accordingly, here we present an innovative gellan-based hydrogel, optimized by using Ca2+ and Mg2+ ions as alternative cross-linkers, alone or in combination with halloysite nanotubes (HNT). Moreover, hydrogels have been further improved with Manuka honey, as molecular spacer, to introduce strong antibacterial properties due to methylglyoxal (MGO). Moreover, Manuka honey may remarkably enhance the mechanical properties of the hydrogels.