Minocycline alleviates peripheral nerve adhesion by promoting regulatory macrophage polarization via the TAK1 and its downstream pathway

•Minocycline has been clarified to prevent nerve adhesion with reduced scar tissue and macrophage recruitment in sciatic nerve adhesion rat model•Minocycline promotes a shift of macrophage polarization from M1 subtype to Mreg subtype to contribute the alleviation of nerve adhesion•The application of Minocycline results in increased expression of IL-10, but compromised expression of IL-1β and TNF-α both in vivo and in vitro•Mechanism study suggests that TAK1 and its downstream pathway is inhibited by minocycline treatment in vitro