Gellan gum-based dermatological formulations.

Abstract

Nowadays, the investigation of natural materials for the development of brand-new dermatological care is growing up. Those biomaterials must guarantee multiple functions providing an appropriate microenvironment by owning antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, hemostatic activities as well as being biomimetic and biocompatible for skin tissue. In this sense, polysaccharide polymers, including gum gellan (GG), are good candidates for dermatological purposes due to their inherent biocompatibility properties. This chapter tries to be a timely and well-updated contribution on basic topics of skin medicine directed especially to practicing dermatologists and researchers in order to show them the medical advances and the latest applications of this polysaccharide in this area of knowledge.. In this way, the current findings are expected to inspire the development of GG-based formulations for potential use in a near future in the cutaneous medicine for diagnosis and therapy.