Abstract
Spinal cord injury (SCI) leads to nerve cell apoptosis and loss of motor function. Herein, excessive activation of the M1 phenotype macrophages/microglia is found to be the main reason for the poor prognosis of SCI, but the selective activation phenotype (M2) macrophages/microglia facilitates the recovery of SCI. Thereafter, we used gold nanoclusters loaded berberine (BRB-AuNCs) to reduce inflammation by inhibiting the activation of M1 phenotype macrophages/microglia, which simultaneously inhibited neuronal apoptosis after SCI. In vitro and in vivo experiments showed that BRB-AuNCs reduced M1 protein marker CD86, increased M2 protein marker CD206, reduced inflammation and apoptotic cytokines (IL-1β, IL-6, TNF-α, Cleaved Caspase-3 and Bax). These results indicate that BRB-AuNCs have excellent anti-inflammatory and anti-apoptotic effects by inducing the polarization of macrophages/microglia from M1 phenotype to M2 phenotype. Thereafter, the motor functions of SCI rats were significantly improved after treatment with BRB-AuNCs. This work not only provides a new way for the treatment of SCI but also broadens BRB utilization strategies.