Assessment of anti-inflammatory properties of BMSC-encapsulated ROS-responsive hydrogel post implantation for 7 days in rats with 2.0 mm spinal cord transection. (a1) CD86 (M1 marker) and CD163 (M2 marker) double immunofluorescence staining images, and magnified images in the white box regions, respectively. (a2) M2/M1 ratio determined at the lesion sites. (b) ELISA assay of inflammatory cytokines collected at tissue supernatants for (b1) IL-1β, (b2) IL-6 and (b3) TNF-α. (c) H&E staining images of rat spinal cord tissues at the lesion sites post treatment for 7 days in vivo. The distance between two grey dashed lines in the first panel outline the 2.0 mm gap. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001.