Emerging novel hydrogels application in oral and gastrointestinal diseases: design wet adhesive strategy towards possible mechanisms

The humid and highly dynamic milieu of the oral cavity and gastrointestinal tract poses formidable challenges to the precise localization and functionality of drugs and materials. Consequently, materials endowed with intrinsic wet adhesion properties hold great promise for the treatment of oral and gastrointestinal disorders. To a certain extent, the evolution of biomaterials has propelled progress in clinical diagnostics and therapeutic modalities. Wet-adhesive hydrogels, which can adapt to the moist and variable conditions of the digestive tract, display a spectrum of favorable biological attributes, such as antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and hemostatic effects. These properties render them invaluable in the precision treatment of oral and gastrointestinal diseases. In this review, we scrutinize the adhesion mechanisms of wet-adhesive hydrogels and explore how their biological functions enable them to function efficiently within the gastrointestinal environment.