Traumatic central nervous system (CNS) injuries, including spinal cord injury and traumatic brain injury, are challenging enemies of human health. Microglia, the main component of the innate immune system in CNS, can be activated postinjury and are key participants in the pathological procedure and development of CNS trauma. Activated microglia can be typically classified into pro-inflammatory (M1) and anti-inflammatory (M2) phenotypes. Reducing M1 polarization while promoting M2 polarization is thought to be promising for CNS injury treatment. However, obstacles such as the low permeability of the blood-brain barrier and short retention time in circulation limit the therapeutic outcomes of administrated drugs, and rational delivery strategies are necessary for efficient microglial regulation. To this end, proper administration methods and delivery systems like nano/microcarriers and scaffolds are investigated to augment the therapeutic effects of drugs, while some of these delivery systems have self-efficacies in microglial manipulation. Besides, systems based on cell and cell-derived exosomes also show impressive effects, and some underlying targeting mechanisms of these delivery systems have been discovered. In this review, we introduce the roles of microglia play in traumatic CNS injuries, discuss the potential targets for the polarization regulation of microglial phenotype, and summarize recent studies and clinical trials about delivery strategies on enhancing the effect of microglial regulation and therapeutic outcome, as well as targeting mechanisms post CNS trauma.
Keywords: delivery strategies; exosomes; microglial manipulation; nanoparticle; scaffolds; traumatic CNS injuries.