Skip to main content

ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Pharmacol.
Sec. Inflammation Pharmacology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fphar.2025.1510372

Zinc Regulates Microglial Polarization and Inflammation through IKBα after Spinal Cord Injury and Promotes Neuronal Repair and Motor Function Recovery in Mice

Provisionally accepted
Daoyong Li Daoyong Li 1Mingyu Bai Mingyu Bai 1Zhanpeng Guo Zhanpeng Guo 2Yang Cui Yang Cui 1Xifan Mei Xifan Mei 1*Tian He Tian He 3*Zhaoliang Shen Zhaoliang Shen 1*
  • 1 The Third Affiliated Hospital of Jinzhou Medical University, No. 2, Section 5, Heping Road, Linghe District, Jinzhou City, Liaoning, China., jinzhou, China
  • 2 Key Laboratory of Liaoning Medical Organization Engineering, No. 40, Songpo Road, Jinzhou, Liaoning, China, jinzhou, China
  • 3 Jinzhou Medical University, Jinzhou, Liaoning Province, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a severe neurological disorder often resulting in intense inflammatory responses and extensive neuronal damage, leading to long-term irreversible loss of motor and sensory functions. This study aims to explore the specific mechanisms and therapeutic effects of zinc ion treatment in SCI. Through transcriptomic analysis, we identified that modulation of inflammatory responses is a crucial pathway for zinc ion therapy in SCI, with IKBα emerging as a key target for zinc-mediated inflammation regulation. IKBα, by binding to and inhibiting NF-κB, modulates various biological processes, particularly in immune response, inflammation, and cell survival. In our in vitro experiments, we found that zinc ions can alleviate the expression of inflammatory cytokines IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α by increasing IKBα expression, and promote microglial polarization to the M2 phenotype. This reduces neuronal apoptosis and inflammation in a mouse model of spinal cord injury. Our study not only elucidates the potential new mechanism of action of zinc ions in treating spinal cord injury but also provides a theoretical basis for developing new clinical treatment strategies.

    Keywords: spinal cord injury, Zinc, microglial polarization, Inflammatory Response, functional recovery

    Received: 12 Oct 2024; Accepted: 10 Jan 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Li, Bai, Guo, Cui, Mei, He and Shen. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Xifan Mei, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Jinzhou Medical University, No. 2, Section 5, Heping Road, Linghe District, Jinzhou City, Liaoning, China., jinzhou, China
    Tian He, Jinzhou Medical University, Jinzhou, 121001, Liaoning Province, China
    Zhaoliang Shen, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Jinzhou Medical University, No. 2, Section 5, Heping Road, Linghe District, Jinzhou City, Liaoning, China., jinzhou, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.