Abstract: Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a chronic nonspecific inflammatory bowel disease characterized by recurrent abdominal pain, diarrhea, and mucopurulent bloody stools. Current UC medications are plagued by systemic side effects and inconsistent therapeutic efficacy, underscoring the need for novel approaches. Hyaluronic acid (HA) has been approved as a new food ingredient or dietary supplement component in multiple countries. In recent years, HA-based hydrogel drug delivery systems have emerged as a promising therapeutic direction for UC. This review systematically summarizes recent advance in these delivery systems, covering the pathological features of UC, the therapeutic advantages of HA hydrogels, fabrication methods for intelligent HA hydrogels, lesion microenvironment-responsive designs and the underlying mechanism, and strategies to enhance the retention of HA hydrogels in UC lesions. This review provides theoretical references for the further development and utilization of intelligent HA hydrogels for UC treatment.

Key words: hyaluronic acid; intelligent response; hydrogel; ulcerative colitis