An elastic gel consisting of natural polyphenol and pluronic for simultaneous dura sealing and treatment of spinal cord injury

Dura injury can be intractable during neurosurgical operations. Dural sealant is effective for aiding dura repair and diminishing postoperative complications. However, a more optimal dural sealant is still clinically required. On the other hand, spinal cord injury (SCI) is a common comorbidity of the dural injury. Exception for surgical decompression, other clinically approved treatment for SCI is still limited. In this study, an elastic gel consisting of natural polyphenol tannic acid (TA) and pluronic F-127 (PF127) was prepared by a facile strategy. Comparing with traditional fibrin glue, the prepared TA-PF127 gel exhibited much higher bonding strength and sealing effect both in vitro and in vivo, and thus effectively prevented postoperative cerebral spinal fluid leakage. Based on a mice severe SCI model of spinal cord transection, the sealing and antioxidant property of TA-PF127 gel effectively decreased the reactive oxygen species production, inhibited neural cells apoptosis and inflammatory response, promoted glial scar formation and restrained lesion zone, maintained neurons and dramatically promoted neurological function recovery of mice after SCI. Due to the simple and biocompatible components in the gel, TA-PF127 has a promising potential to become a novel dural sealant for simultaneous dura sealing and SCI treatment in clinical neurosurgical operations.