Biodegradable and injectable curcumin-loaded hydrogel for the prevention of postoperative intrauterine adhesion

Qing Wu^1*Yang qing mei¹Han Xu¹Yang Chen¹Xiaofen Jin²

• ¹Zhejiang Provincial People's Hospital, Hangzhou, China
• ²Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China

Intrauterine adhesion (IUA) are essentially fibrosis of the endometrium of uterine cavity. It is a common cause of female infertility and seriously affects women's physical and mental health. Current therapeutic strategies are failed to reach satisfactory outcomes. Injectable and self-healing uterine hydrogels with antifibrotic properties would be efficient in preventing IUA. In this work, we prepared Curcumin-loaded Carboxymethyl chitosan (CMC)-Oxidized hyaluronic acid (OHA) intrauterine hydrogel (Cur@CMC-OHA hydrogel) with antifibrotic properties, and its injectable and self-healing properties could be adapted to the morphostructures of uterus cavity. The hydrogels exhibited tissue adhesive power, which is ideal for stable uterine cavity retention and therapeutic outcomes. In vivo experiments showed that in situ injection of Cur@CMC-OHA hydrogel in the mice model of IUA reduced fibrotic tissues, prevented IUA and improved the reproductive outcome. It effectively down-regulated fibrosis-associated transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1) and reversed epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) resulting in anti-fibrotic and fertility restoration. In conclusion, Cur@CMC-OHA hydrogel may be a promising alternative for clinical treatment of uterine adhesion.