Citicoline–liposome/polyurethane composite scaffolds regulate the inflammatory response of microglia to promote nerve regeneration

Regulating the immune microenvironment around the central neurons is a difficult problem. To address this critical matter, drug-loading scaffolds are promising ways of releasing drugs directly to the surrounding cells and ignoring the influence of blood–brain barrier and blood–medullary barrier. Microglia are fundamental innate immune sentinels in the central nervous system, usually activated during neuroinflammation. Citicoline (CDPC), a neuroprotective agent on secondary injuries, is used in clinical treatment of central nervous system diseases. To overcome low efficiency of CDPC uptake and improve immune microenvironment of CDPC in central nervous system (CNS), in this work, double local drug delivery systems, hybrid CDPC–liposome and CDPC blending directly waterborne polyurethane scaffolds, were prepared. It shows that CDPC–liposome composite scaffolds are more conducive to inhibit the inflammatory response of microglia and promote axon elongation, which presents a certain prospect in the field of nerve repair. Graphical abstract