Discrimination between the effects of pulsed electrical stimulation and electrochemically conditioned medium on human osteoblasts.

Background: Electrical stimulation is used for enhanced bone fracture healing. Electrochemical processes occur during the electrical stimulation at the electrodes and influence cellular reactions. Our approach aimed to distinguish between electrochemical and electric field effects on osteoblast-like MG-63 cells.

Subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation induces sustained neurorestoration in the mesolimbic dopaminergic system in a Parkinson's disease model.

Background: Deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the subthalamic nucleus (STN) is an established therapeutic principle in Parkinson's disease, but the underlying mechanisms, particularly mediating non-motor actions, remain largely enigmatic.

Objective/hypothesis: The delayed onset of neuropsychiatric actions in conjunction with first experimental evidence that STN-DBS causes disease-modifying effects prompted our investigation on how cellular plasticity in midbrain dopaminergic systems is affected by STN-DBS.

Methods: We applied unilateral or bilateral STN-DBS in two independent cohorts of 6-hydroxydopamine hemiparkinsonian rats four to eight weeks after dopaminergic lesioning to allow for the development of a stable dopaminergic dysfunction prior to DBS electrode implantation.