Study of Conductive Nerve Conduits for Anti-Inflammatory and Antioxidant Effects

Replacing autologous nerve grafts with nerve conduits is the prevailing direction for the treatment of peripheral nerves, though the repair of hollow nerve conduits remains unsatisfactory. In this study, cysteine (Cys)-modified zein (Zein) was used for electrostatic spinning to fabricate a hollow nerve conduit loaded with berberine (BBR). Hydrogels were prepared by ionic cross-linking of Zein with pectin (Pec) and were subsequently loaded with melatonin (MT) and graphene oxide (GO). The hydrogel was then injected into a hollow catheter to form a hydrogel composite nerve conduit (L-ZBZPGM). The hydrogels exhibited a continuous porous network structure with pore size distribution between 100 - 200 μm. Most of the hydrogels exhibited porosity exceed 70% and the compressive modulus was 0.42 ± 0.025 MPa. The electrical conductivity of the hydrogels was determined to be 1.23 ± 0.482 × 10-3 S/cm, as measured by a standard four-point probe method. Furthermore, adding GO with electrical stimulation could promote nerve cell proliferation and accelerate nerve regeneration. The biomaterials used in this study were compositionally simple and their degradation products potentially offered less impact on the human microenvironment. The findings suggested that L-ZBZPGM was more conductive to peripheral nerve regeneration.