Oral natural material hydrogels: a new strategy for enhancing oral drug delivery efficiency

Oral administration, owing to its high patient compliance and favorable controllability, is widely employed in clinical settings; however, the efficacy is often constrained by the gastrointestinal environment's impact on bioavailability. As the demand for biocompatibility and biodegradability in biomedical applications intensifies, natural hydrogel-based oral drug delivery systems have gained substantial attention as promising carriers. In this study, we introduce a variety of natural materials, revealing their advantages in enhancing drug bioavailability and targeting capabilities. Through both physical and chemical crosslinking mechanisms, we successfully demonstrate hydrogels exhibiting excellent mechanical properties and biocompatibility. Furthermore, we analyze the potential applications of diverse natural oral hydrogels across fields such as gastrointestinal, metabolic, oncological, and immunotherapeutic diseases. By synthesizing recent advances in this area, we aim to elucidate the critical role these systems can play in biomedicine. Our findings suggest that natural materials possess broad prospects in drug delivery, advocating for continued exploration of their clinical application to facilitate the development and optimization of novel oral therapeutic modalities. This work provides a vital theoretical foundation and practical guidance for future innovations in drug delivery technologies.