Glutathione-modified macrophage-derived cell membranes encapsulated metformin nanogels for the treatment of spinal cord injury

Spinal cord injury (SCI) causes a range of pathological responses, including oxidative stress, inflammation and apoptosis. In SCI treatment, whether an effective drug preparation can cross the blood-spinal cord barrier (BSCB) to the injury site is closely related to its therapeutic effect. Metformin (Met) is a glucose-lowering drug that shows a good effect for the treatment of SCI. However, it cannot cross the BSCB, which limits its application. In this study, we prepared glutathione-modified macrophage-derived cell membranes encapsulating metformin nanogels (Met-CNG-GSH) to solve this problem. Drug release and pharmacokinetics study results indicated that Met-CNG-GSH exhibits a slow release effect, and in vivo imaging demonstrated that Met-CNG-GSHs accumulated at the injury site, indicating that it has a good targeting effect. Animal experiments demonstrated that Met-CNG-GSH has a good therapeutic effect in alleviating oxidative stress, inflammation, and apoptosis. Therefore, Met-CNG-GSH represents a potential treatment for SCI.