Traditional Chinese Medicine-Associated Bioactive Hydrogels: Material Roles, Network Design, and Therapeutic Applications

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM)-associated hydrogels are structurally diverse systems in which medicinal constituents can function primarily as gelators, cooperating network components, matrix-functionalizing moieties, scaffold-forming medicinal polysaccharides, or therapeutic payloads. This diversity expands formulation possibilities but can obscure the respective contributions of material design, delivery, and pharmacological activity. This review proposes a role-based framework that distinguishes constituent identity and chemical complexity from experimentally demonstrated network function. It applies this framework to active-molecule self-assembly, multicomponent and metal-assisted assembly, polymer-supported integration, medicinal-polysaccharide networks, and gel formulations containing complex herbal preparations. Therapeutic applications are considered in relation to four recurring pathological and delivery constraints, including limited residence at dynamic interfaces, oxidative and inflammatory microenvironments, structurally deficient regenerative niches, and the need for spatial confinement when systemic or off-target exposure constrains treatments. Across these applications, this review assesses evidence for hydrated-network formation, component-resolved release and exposure, and appropriate comparators, while distinguishing structural cooperation from coordinated delivery and pharmacological synergy. Future progress will require reproducible feedstocks and processing, physiologically relevant characterization, manufacturing-aware design, and standardized datasets to support predictive modeling. This review provides a conceptual roadmap for the development and utilization of TCM-associated hydrogels as bioactive biomaterials.