Abstract
Chitosan nanoparticles have been recognized as a new type of biomaterials for treatment of spinal cord injury (SCI). To develop a novel treatment method targeted delivery injured spinal cord, valproic acid labeled chitosan nanoparticles (VA-CN) were constructed and evaluated in the treatment of SCI. Our results demonstrated that administration of VA-CN significantly promoted the recovery of the function and tissue repair after SCI. Moreover, we found treatment of VA-CN inhibited the reactive astrocytes after SCI. Furthermore, administration of VA-CN enhanced immunoreactions of neuronal related marker NF160, which suggested that VA-CN could promote the neuroprotective function in rats of SCI. The production of IL-1β, IL-6 and TNF-α were significantly decreased following treatment of VA-CN. Meanwhile, administration of VA-CN effectively improved the blood spinal cord barrier (BSCB) disruption after SCI. Administration of VA-CN could enhance the recovery of neuronal injury, suppress the reactive astrocytes and inflammation, and improve the blood spinal cord barrier disruption after SCI in rats. These results provided a novel and promising therapeutic manner for SCI.
Highlights
Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a severe injury to the spinal cord that causes a loss of sensation, neurological function, autonomic function and muscle function in the body
Administration of valproic acid labeled chitosan nanoparticles (VA-CN) could enhance the recovery of neuronal injury, suppress the reactive astrocytes and inflammation, and improve the blood spinal cord barrier disruption after spinal cord injury (SCI) in rats
The morphology of valproic acid labeled chitosan nanoparticles was observed by transmission electron microscopy
Summary
Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a severe injury to the spinal cord that causes a loss of sensation, neurological function, autonomic function and muscle function in the body. SCI consists mainly of the primary damage and the secondary damage. The primary injury includes the cell death, biochemical cascades, and tissue damage, which is usually caused by traffic accidents, violence and sports injuries. The secondary damage mainly contains the ischemic, inflammation, swelling and neural signal disorder, which is mediated by multiple neurodegenerative processes that accelerate the primary damage [4,5,6]. SCI involves in a series of pathophysiological processes such as metabolic disorder of extracellular matrix, reactive hyperplasia of glial cells and overexpression of inflammatory factors [7,8,9]
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