The Application of Biomaterials in Spinal Cord Injury

The spinal cord and the brain form the central nervous system (CNS), which is the most important part of the body. However, spinal cord injury (SCI) caused by external forces is one of the most difficult types of neurological injury to treat, resulting in reduced or even absent motor, sensory and autonomic functions. It leads to the reduction or even disappearance of motor, sensory and self-organizing nerve functions. Currently, its incidence is increasing each year worldwide. Therefore, the development of treatments for SCI is urgently needed in the clinic. To date, surgery, drug therapy, stem cell transplantation, regenerative medicine, and rehabilitation therapy have been developed for the treatment of SCI. Among them, regenerative biomaterials that use tissue engineering and bioscaffolds to transport cells or drugs to the injured site are considered the most promising option. In this review, we briefly introduce SCI and its molecular mechanism and summarize the application of biomaterials in the repair and regeneration of tissue in various models of SCI. However, there is still limited evidence about the treatment of SCI with biomaterials in the clinic. Finally, this review will provide inspiration and direction for the future study and application of biomaterials in the treatment of SCI.

Automated summary

The spinal cord and brain are vital to the central nervous system (CNS), but spinal cord injury (SCI) caused by external forces is challenging to treat and results in loss of motor, sensory, and autonomic functions. The incidence of SCI is increasing globally, emphasizing the urgent need for treatments. Various approaches, such as surgery, drug therapy, stem cell transplantation, regenerative medicine, and rehabilitation therapy, have been developed. Among them, biomaterials using tissue engineering and bioscaffolds show promise for transporting cells or drugs to injured sites. However, clinical evidence for the treatment of SCI with biomaterials remains limited. This review provides inspiration and guidance for future studies and applications of biomaterials in SCI treatment.