Amelioration of Motor Recovery After Spinal Cord Injury by Green-Formulated Nickel/Copper bi-Metallic Nanocomposite

Abstract

The treatment of spinal cord injury is crucial to prevent further damage and improve long-term outcomes, as early intervention can stabilize the spine, control inflammation, and facilitate recovery of function. In the present study, we synthesized a new metallic NPs and investigated the ability of NPs to treat spinal cord injury. The bimetallic NPs of nickel/copper were synthesized using the aqueous extract of Artemisia annua. The NPs was chemically characterized. Bands at wavenumbers 1053, 1377–1664, 2922, and 3417 cm⁻¹ reveal the functional groups’ presence of C-O, C=C, C=O, C-H, and O-H bonds, which are characteristic of organic compounds such as phenols and flavonoids, abundant in A. annua. Signals around 7.5 keV for NiKα and CuKα, as well as those after 8.0 keV for NiKβ and CuKβ, confirm the formation of Ni/Cu-NCPs. The FE-SEM images reveal the semispherical morphology of Ni/Cu-NCPs nanoparticles with a size of less than 90 nm. In the in vivo study, a total of 40 male Wistar rats were divided into four distinct groups: the sham rats, the intact animals, the control rats, and the Ni/Cu-NCPs group. Hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining was performed to analyze the lesions following the injury. The assessment of Glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) expression was conducted to gauge the astrogliosis degree. Additionally, the rat's behavioral performance was monitored weekly through the evaluation of BBB scores following the onset of spinal cord injury. The results from our XRD analysis demonstrated and FE-SEM illustrated a crystallinity structure with a semispherical morphology for the NPs dimensions of less than 50 nm. The findings of the study indicated that the neuroprotective properties of Ni/Cu-NCPs resulted in an improvement. Electromyography (EMG) analysis showed a significant enhancement in hindlimb functionality within the Ni/Cu-NCPs group. The ventral motor neurons quantity experienced a notable increase, whereas the areas of the cavity showed a marked decrease in the Ni/Cu-NCPs group. Additionally, there was a notable reduction in the expression of GFAP within the Ni/Cu-NCPs group. The results revealed the potent ability of the synthesized Ni/Cu NPs to cure spinal cord injury.