International Journal of Biomedical Research IJBR 3 [1][2012 ]24 ‐28 www.ssjournals.com ALGINATE DRESSINGS – AN OVERVIEW Gaurav Solanki* 1 , Renu Solanki 2 1 Jodhpur National University, Jodhpur-324003, (Rajasthan) India. 2 Lachoo Memorial College of Science and Technology, Pharmacy wing, Jodhpur-324003, (Rajasthan) India. Corresponding author*: drgauravsolanki@yahoo.com This article is available online at www.ssjournals.com ABSTRACT Alginate dressings are highly absorbent, biodegradable material derived from the seaweed. They are used to cleanse wide variety of secreting lesions. They show high absorptivity which is achieved via strong hydrophilic gel formation, this limits the wound secretions, promotes wound healing and also minimizes the bacterial contamination. Alginate dressings are very useful for moderate to heavily exudating wounds. This article throws light on the alginate dressing and its importance medical science. Patents are the richest source of the latest technological information. A review of some patents on alginate dressing is provided that summarizes the recent technical advancements taken place in this area. KEY WORDS: Alginate, Alginate dressing, Uses, Patents 1. INTRODUCTION Alginic acid is an anionic polysaccharide found in the cell walls of brown algae. It is also called as algin or alginate 1, 2 . It has a good water absorbing property i.e. it is capable of absorbing 200-300 times its own weight in water. It is white to yellowish-brown in colour. It is sold in filamentous, granular or powdered forms 3 . 2. STRUCTURE Alginates are chain-forming heteropolysaccharides made up of blocks of mannuronic acid and guluronic acid. It is basically a linear copolymer with homopolymeric blocks of (1-4)-linked β- D-mannuronate (M) and its C-5 epimer α- L-guluronate (G) residues, respectively, covalently linked together in different sequences or blocks. These monomers can appear in homopolymeric blocks of consecutive G-residues (G-blocks), consecutive M-residues (M-blocks), alternating M and G-residues (MG- blocks), or randomly as organized blocks 4, 5 . 3. FORMS Many varieties of alginate can be extracted out from seaweed- brown algae. Commercially used are Macrocystis pyrifera, Ascophyllum nodosum and various types of Laminaria. Alginates are also produced by two types of bacterial genera called as Pseudomonas and Azotobacter. For medical applications three main forms of alginates are useful. They are sodium alginates, potassium alginates and calcium alginates 6, 7 . The sodium alginate is the sodium salt of alginic acid. Its empirical formula is NaC 6 H 7 O 6 while potassium