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, cysteinylated zein (l-Zein) was prepared through a disulfide exchange reaction between the disulfide bonds of cysteine (Cys) and those of zein (Zein). Subsequently, electrospinning was utilized to fabricate hollow nerve conduits loaded with berberine (BBR) by means of hydrogen bonding and physical encapsulation. Hydrogels were prepared by ionic cross-linking of Zein with pectin (Pec), and were subsequently loaded with melatonin (MT) and graphene oxide (GO) through physical adsorption and encapsulation. A 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 and 200 μm. Most of the hydrogels exhibited porosity exceeding 70% and the compressive modulus was 0.42 ± 0.025 MPa. A hydrogel exhibited a residual mass ratio of 35.15% ± 1.87% at the end of the 30 d degradation period, achieved peak release on day 18 with a release rate of 83.31% ± 3.64%, and had an electrical conductivity of 1.23 ± 0.482 × 10