2022, Vol. 26 ›› Issue (28): 4562-4568

Application of biomaterial scaffolds in the treatment of spinal cord injury

Zhao Xingchang1, 2, Song Shiqiang1, He Feng1, Tang Yujin3, Liu Jia3   

Abstract: BACKGROUND: Due to the weak regeneration ability after spinal cord injury, it is still a difficult medical problem to repair the damaged spinal cord tissue and normalize its function. The rapid development of biological tissue materials and its wide application in medicine provide new therapeutic ideas and methods for spinal cord injury repair.  
OBJECTIVE: To summarize the research situation of biomaterial scaffolds on nerve tissue regeneration and repair after spinal cord injury, and forecast its development trend, so as to explore the methods of spinal cord injury repair and summarize experience.
METHODS: The articles published from January 2011 to January 2021 were retrieved using the advanced retrieval function of PubMed database. The search terms were “spinal cord injury; biomaterials; nerve regeneration; material”. By using the advanced retrieval functions of CNKI, Wanfang, VIP and other databases, relevant articles published from January 2011 to January 2021 were searched, and the search terms were “spinal cord injury; biomaterials; scaffolds”.  
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: With further development of the combination of bioengineering research and medicine, biomaterial scaffolds have been widely used in the study of spinal cord injury repair, and the histocompatibility and degradation of biomaterials have been improved. There are many kinds of biomaterials, each of which has its own advantages and disadvantages. It is better to prepare composite scaffolds loaded with seed cells, cytokines or drugs for nerve regeneration. However, how to select the composite scaffold material combination, how to select the seed cells, cytokines or drugs, so as to make the biomaterial scaffold combined with seed cells, cytokines or drugs become the best combination value of in-depth research. In conclusion, biomaterial repair of spinal cord injury is a new idea and may become a breakthrough point to promote the repair of spinal cord injury.
Key words: spinal cord injury, biomaterials, scaffolds, nerve regeneration, nerve repair, microenvironment, review