Acute
inflammation is a central component in the progression of
spinal cord injury (SCI). Anti-inflammatory drugs used in the clinic are often administered systemically at high doses, which can paradoxically increase
inflammation and result in
drug toxicity. A cluster-like mesoporous
silica/
arctigenin/CAQK composite (MSN-FC@
ARC-G) drug delivery system was designed to avoid systemic side effects of high-dose
therapy by enabling site-specific
drug delivery to the spinal cord. In this nanosystem, mesoporous
silica was modified with the
FITC fluorescent molecule and CAQK
peptides that target
brain injury and SCI sites. The size of the nanocarrier was kept at approximately 100 nm to enable penetration of the blood-brain barrier.
Arctigenin, a Chinese herbal medicine, was loaded into the nanosystem to reduce
inflammation. The in vivo results showed that MSN-FC@
ARC-G could attenuate
inflammation at the injury site. Behavior and morphology experiments suggested that MSN-FC@
ARC-G could diminish local microenvironment damage, especially reducing the expression of
interleukin-17 (IL-17) and IL-17-related inflammatory factors, inhibiting the activation of astrocytes, thus protecting neurons and accelerating the recovery of SCI. Our study demonstrated that this novel,
silica-based drug delivery system has promising potential for clinical application in SCI
therapy.