An overview of hydrogel-based intra-articular drug delivery for the treatment of osteoarthritis

Drug administration by intra-articular injection is an emerging popular treatment for knee osteoarthritis (OA). This method of drug administration minimizes the toxic effects of the drugs administered systemically, and maximizes local effects. However, traditional oral drugs delivered via intra-articular injection are limited by the lack of sustained release. Injectable materials such as hydrogels or hydrogel microspheres have been extensively studied for their applications as intra-articular injection for the treatment of OA, which is attribute to their minimally invasive manner, extended drug retention time and high loading efficiency. In this review, we summarized hydrogel types and hydrogel characteristics for intra-articular injection, and the drugs, proteins and cells used in the injectable delivery systems. Through this review, we hope to inspire researchers to construct novel hydrogel-based delivery system for the intra-articular injection treatment of knee OA.