Electrical stimulation has been shown to have neuroprotective effects on ganglion cells and photoreceptors in axotomized and dystrophic retinas from Royal College of Surgeons (RCS) rats. This study determined whether electrical stimulation also has a neuroprotective effect on cells in the inner nuclear layer (INL) of retinas. We cultivated retinas from adult RCS rats on microelectrode arrays and stimulated them continuously with 20 Hz for up to 5 days. Afterwards, we subjected them to quantitative immunohistochemical analysis. Using TUNEL assay we found that transretinal electrical stimulation (TRES) with charge densities within the range of 100-500 microC/cm2 reduced apoptosis of neurons in the INL of degenerated retinas from RCS -/- rats by 20% after 1 day of continuous stimulation. Antibody staining (OX-42, ED1) revealed a reduced activation of migroglial cells in RCS -/- and congenic control (RCS +/+) rat retinas by up to 50% after 1 day of stimulation. The effect of electrical stimulation on apoptosis and reduced activation of microglial cells was closely correlated with the strength and duration of the stimulation. The neuroprotective effect of TRES on neuronal cells in the INL of degenerated RCS rat retinas supports the idea that electrical stimulation may be a therapeutic option to delay the progression of retinal degeneration in patients suffering from retinitis pigmentosa.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.brainresbull.2008.12.013 | DOI Listing |
Cerebellum
January 2025
Department of Neuroscience and Physiology, Grossman School of Medicine, NYU Neuroscience Institute, New York University, New York, NY, 10016, USA.
Cerebellar transcranial alternating current stimulation (ctACS) has the potential to be an appealing, non-invasive treatment option for psychiatric and neurological disorders. However, realization of this potential has been limited by gaps in our knowledge of how ctACS affects cerebellar output on single cell and population levels. Previously, we showed that AC stimulation applied to the cerebellar surface produced a strong, frequency-dependent modulation of Purkinje cell (PC) and cerebellar nuclear (CN) cell activity.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAdv Healthc Mater
January 2025
Gansu Provincial Maternity and Child-Care Hospital, Lanzhou, 730050, China.
Implantation of a mesh loaded with mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) is a common approach for the treatment of pelvic organ prolapse (POP). The mesh provides effective support to pelvic floor, enhancing muscle contraction of pelvic organs while reducing inflammation. In this study, a fully degradable mesh is designed for the treatment of POP, utilizing MSCs stimulated by a galvanic battery-powered electric field.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPhysiol Rep
January 2025
Gravitational Physiology and Medicine Research Unit, Division of Physiology, Otto Loewi Research Center, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria.
Available evidence suggests that various medical/rehabilitation treatments evoke multiple effects on blood hemostasis. It was therefore the aim of our study to examine whether fascial manipulation, vibration exercise, motor imagery, or neuro-muscular electrical stimulation can activate the coagulation system, and, thereby, expose patients to thrombotic risk. Ten healthy young subject were enrolled in the study.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFront Hum Neurosci
December 2024
Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, United States.
Introduction: The combination of magnetic and focused ultrasonic fields generates focused electric fields at depth entirely noninvasively. This noninvasive method may find particularly important applications in targeted treatments of the deep brain circuits involved in mental and neurological disorders. Due to the novelty of this method, it is nonetheless unknown which parameters modulate neural activity effectively.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNeuroimage
December 2024
Department of Neurosurgery, Affiliated Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China. Electronic address:
Background: Parkinson's disease (PD) is a movement disorder caused by dopaminergic neurodegeneration. Both Levodopa (L-dopa) and Subthalamic Deep Brain Stimulation (STN-DBS) effectively alleviate symptoms, yet their cerebral effects remain under-explored. Understanding these effects is essential for optimizing treatment strategies and assessing disease severity.
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