Recent progress in drug-loaded electrospun nanofibers for urethral tissue engineering

Urethral stricture remains a persistent clinical challenge due to inflammation-driven fibrosis, limited vascularization, and inadequate epithelial regeneration following injury. Conventional procedures including dilation, urethrotomy, and graft urethroplasty often fail to provide durable outcomes, with recurrence rates remaining high. Electrospun nanofibers have recently emerged as promising scaffolds capable of mimicking extracellular matrix structure, supporting cellular regeneration, and delivering therapeutic molecules directly to the site of injury. Drug-loaded nanofibers incorporating antibiotics, anti-inflammatory agents, angiogenic factors, and vasodilators such as papaverine have demonstrated improved epithelialization, increased vascularity, and reduced fibrosis in preclinical models. This review summarizes current advances in drug-functionalized electrospun nanofibers for urethral tissue engineering and highlights their potential for translation into future clinical practice.