Hydrogels are a three-dimensional and crosslinked network of hydrophilic polymers. They can absorb a large amount of water or biological fluids, which leads to their swelling while maintaining their 3D structure without dissolving (Zhu and Marchant, Expert Rev Med Devices 8:607–626, 2011). Among the numerous polymers which have been utilized for the preparation of the hydrogels, polysaccharides have gained more attention in the area of pharmaceutics; Sodium alginate is a non-toxic, biocompatible, and biodegradable polysaccharide with several unique physicochemical properties for which has used as delivery vehicles for drugs (Kumar Giri et al., Curr Drug Deliv 9:539–555, 2012). Owing to their high-water content and resembling the natural soft tissue, hydrogels were studied a lot as a scaffold. The formation of hydrogels can occur by interactions of the anionic alginates with multivalent inorganic cations through a typical ionotropic gelation method. However, those applications require the control of some properties such as mechanical stiffness, swelling, degradation, cell attachment, and binding or release of bioactive molecules by using the chemical or physical modifications of the alginate hydrogel. In the current review, an overview of alginate hydrogels and their properties will be presented as well as the methods of producing alginate hydrogels. In the next section of the present review paper, the application of the alginate hydrogels will be defined as drug delivery vehicles for chemotherapeutic agents. The recent advances in the application of the alginate-based hydrogels will be describe later as a wound dressing and bioink in 3D bioprinting.

中文翻译：

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基于藻酸盐的水凝胶在癌症治疗中作为药物递送载体，并在伤口包扎和3D生物打印中的应用。

水凝胶是亲水聚合物的三维交联网络。它们可以吸收大量的水或生物流体，从而导致其膨胀，同时保持其3D结构而不溶解（Zhu和Marchant，Expert Rev Med Devices，8：607-626，2011）。在用于制备水凝胶的众多聚合物中，多糖在药物学领域引起了更多关注。海藻酸钠是一种无毒，具有生物相容性且可生物降解的多糖，具有几种独特的理化特性，已被用作药物的递送载体（Kumar Giri等人，Curr Drug Deliv 9：539-555，2012）。由于其高水含量且类似于天然软组织，因此对水凝胶作为支架进行了大量研究。水凝胶的形成可以通过典型的离子型凝胶化方法使阴离子藻酸盐与多价无机阳离子相互作用而发生。然而，那些应用要求通过使用藻酸盐水凝胶的化学或物理修饰来控制某些性质，例如机械刚度，溶胀，降解，细胞附着以及生物活性分子的结合或释放。在当前的审查中，将概述藻酸盐水凝胶及其性质，以及生产藻酸盐水凝胶的方法。在本综述的下一部分中，藻酸盐水凝胶的应用将被定义为化学治疗剂的药物递送载体。