In Situ Piezoelectric-Catalytic Anti-Inflammation Promotes the Rehabilitation of Acute Spinal Cord Injury in Synergy.

Relieving inflammation via scavenging toxic reactive oxygen species (ROS) during the acute phase of spinal cord injury (SCI) has been proved to be an effective strategy to mitigate secondary spinal cord injury and improve recovery of motor function. However, commonly used corticosteroid anti-inflammatory drugs such as methylprednisolone show adverse side effects which may induce gastrointestinal bleeding, femoral head necrosis and an increased risk of wound infection. Fortunately, hydrogen (H 2 ), featuring selective antioxidant performance, easy penetrability and excellent biosafety, is being extensively investigated as a potential anti-inflammatory therapeutic gas for the treatment of SCI. In this work, by a facile in situ growth approach of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) on the piezoelectric BaTiO 3 , a particulate nanocomposite with Schottky heterojunction (Au@BT) has been synthesized, which can generate H 2 continuously by catalyzing H + reduction through piezoelectric catalysis. Furthermore, theoretical calculations were employed to reveal the piezoelectric catalytic mechanism of Au@BT. Transcriptomics analysis and nontargeted large-scale metabolomic analysis reveal that the deeper mechanism of the neuroprotective effect of H 2 therapy based on Au@BT + US. The as-prepared Au@BT nanoparticles have been first explored as a flexible hydrogen gas generator for efficient anti-inflammatory and pro-repair application for SCI therapy. This study highlights a promising prospect of nanocatalytic medicine for disease treatments by catalyzing H 2 production, thus offering a significant alternative to conventional approaches against refractory spinal cord injury. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.