Hydrogels Loaded with Bioactive Peptides for Wound Repair

Bioactive peptides are emerging as promising candidates for therapeutic wound repair due to their potent wound-healing activity. However, in the complex wound microenvironment, they face drawbacks, including degradation, rapid clearance, and short duration of action, which limit their sustained healing efficacy. As functional carriers, hydrogels can enhance the therapeutic efficacy of bioactive peptides by preserving their activity, maintaining local concentrations, controlling the release behavior, and providing a three-dimensional microenvironment. This Review summarizes the latest advances in bioactive peptide-loaded hydrogels for wound repair. First, we review the sources of wound-healing peptides and then explain how hydrogel-mediated delivery, through mechanisms such as the protection of bioactivity and controlled release, has, to some extent, overcome the limitations of applying peptides directly to wounds. Additionally, we summarize several loading strategies and present the applications of these hydrogels for promoting acute and chronic wound repair. We conclude with research directions and future perspectives, aiming to provide references for further studies and clinical applications.