Evaluation the antioxidant effects of scaffold containing curcumin nanoparticles in unilateral spinal cord injury model in the male rats.

Background: Free radicals play a key role in spinal cord injury and curcumin has the potential to act as an antioxidant agent. Controlled delivery of curcumin can be achieved through encapsulation in bovine serum albumin to form nanoparticles, and acellular scaffold can bridge lesions and improve axonal growth in spinal cord injury.

Objective: In this study, we evaluated the antioxidant effects of the scaffold containing curcumin nanoparticles in the unilateral spinal cord injury model in male rats.

Methods: Nanoparticles were prepared by the desolvation method and their characterization and efficiency were evaluated. The acellular scaffolds were prepared by using physical and chemical methods and for confirming the acellularization process, histological analysis was performed. After conjugating the nanoparticles with acellular scaffolds, 48 male Wistar rats were divided into four groups as follows: (1) Laminectomy group, (2) Spinal cord injury group, (3) Blank-acellular scaffold group and (4) Curcumin nanoparticles-acellular scaffold group. Functional recovery was assessed by measuring parameters such as MDA, GSH, SOD, and TAC.

Results: The results showed that the mean size of the nanoparticles was 226 nm, and the zeta potential was -18.28. Curcumin nanoparticles-acellular scaffold group exhibited a significant decrease in the level of MDA and a meaningful increase in the levels of other parameters compared to spinal cord injury group (p = 0.000).

Conclusion: The scaffold containing curcumin nanoparticles demonstrated a significant improvement in functional recovery after spinal cord injury. In this research, oxidative stress resulting from spinal cord injury was attenuated by treatment with a scaffold containing curcumin nanoparticles.