Neural Regeneration Research ›› 2021, Vol. 16 ›› Issue (2): 247-253.doi: 10.4103/1673-5374.290882

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Hydrogel-based local drug delivery strategies for spinal cord repair

Robert B. Shultz1, 2, 3, 4, 5, Yinghui Zhong1, *   

  1. 1 School of Biomedical Engineering, Science and Health Systems, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA, USA;  2 Department of Neurosurgery, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA;  3 Department of Bioengineering, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA;  4 New Jersey Center for Biomaterials, Rutgers – The State University of New Jersey, Piscataway, NJ, USA;  5 Center for Neurotrauma, Neurodegeneration & Restoration, Corporal Michael J. Crescenz Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Philadelphia, PA, USA
  • Online:2021-02-15 Published:2020-12-02
  • Contact: Yinghui Zhong, PhD, yz348@drexel.edu.
  • Supported by:
    RBS was funded by the USA Department of Education’s Graduate Assistance in Areas of National Need (GAANN) Program and the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number T32EB005583.

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Abstract: Spinal cord injury results in significant loss of motor, sensory, and autonomic functions. Although a wide range of therapeutic agents have been shown to attenuate secondary injury or promote regeneration/repair in animal models of spinal cord injury, clinical translation of these strategies has been limited, in part due to difficulty in safely and effectively achieving therapeutic concentrations in the injured spinal cord tissue. Hydrogel-based drug delivery systems offer unique opportunities to locally deliver drugs to the injured spinal cord with sufficient dose and duration, while avoiding deleterious side effects associated with systemic drug administration. Such local drug delivery systems can be readily fabricated from biocompatible and biodegradable materials. In this review, hydrogel-based strategies for local drug delivery to the injured spinal cord are extensively reviewed, and recommendations are made for implementation.

Key words: drug carriers, drug delivery, hydrogels, microparticles, nanoparticles, neurotrophic factors, scaffolds, spinal cord injury