Materials and Methods: Wistar rats were divided into five groups: a sham group, an SCI group (negative control, NC), and three groups receiving CH hydrogel containing 10, 50, and 100 mg/kg of Met. We fabricated the CH/Met hydrogel and characterized it using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). We then evaluated cell viability, Bax and Bcl2 gene expression, immunohistochemistry (IHC), and histopathological changes.

Results: The CH/Met hydrogel at a dose of 12.5 mg/mL significantly increased cell viability in the U87 cell line after 48 hours of exposure. The CH/Met hydrogel groups significantly modulated Bax and Bcl2 mRNA expression, particularly at doses of 50 and 100 mg/kg compared to the SCI group. Additionally, the upregulation of S100β protein in SCI was mitigated by the CH/Met hydrogel in a dose-dependent manner. The histopathological results showed that CH/Met hydrogel significantly improved SCI-induced alterations such as vacuolar degeneration, necrosis, severe cystic and axonal degeneration.

Conclusions: Our results suggest that the CH/Met hydrogel has neuroprotection effects in an SCI-induced model in rats. CH/Met hydrogel, significantly modulated histopathological changes and apoptosis-related gene expression in SCI.