Abstract

Purpose

Clinical research suggests that transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) at bilateral supraorbital foramen and inferior orbital rim and nose intersections may facilitate rehabilitation after stroke. However, the underlying neurobiological mechanisms of tDCS remain poorly understood, impeding its clinical application. Here, we investigated the effect of tDCS applied after stroke on neural cells.

Materials and methods

Middle cerebral arterial occlusion (MCAO) reperfusion was induced in rats. Animals with comparable infarcts were randomly divided into MCAO group and MCAO + tDCS group. Recovery of neurological function was assessed behaviorally by modified neurological severity score (mNSS). Ischemic tissue damage verified histologically by TTC and HE staining. Immunohistochemical staining, real-time qPCR, and western blot were applied to determine the changes of neural cells in ischemic brains.

Results

The results reveal that tDCS treated by multilead brain reflex instrument can promote the recovery of neurological function, remarkably reduce cerebral infarct volume, promote brain tissue rehabilitation, and can effectively inhibit astrocytosis and enhance neuronal survival and synaptic function in ischemic brains.

Conculsions

Our study suggests that tDCS treated by multilead brain reflex instrument could be prospectively developed into a clinical treatment modality.

中文翻译：

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多导联脑反射仪治疗经颅直流电刺激促进脑卒中大鼠模型神经功能恢复

摘要

目的

临床研究表明，在双侧眶上孔和眶下缘和鼻交叉处进行经颅直流电刺激 (tDCS) 可能有助于中风后的康复。然而，tDCS 的潜在神经生物学机制仍然知之甚少，阻碍了其临床应用。在这里，我们研究了中风后应用 tD​​CS 对神经细胞的影响。

材料和方法

在大鼠中诱导大脑中动脉闭塞（MCAO）再灌注。具有类似梗塞的动物被随机分为MCAO组和MCAO+tDCS组。通过改良的神经严重程度评分 (mNSS) 从行为上评估神经功能的恢复。通过 TTC 和 HE 染色在组织学上证实了缺血性组织损伤。应用免疫组织化学染色、实时定量PCR和蛋白质印迹来确定缺血性脑中神经细胞的变化。

结果

结果表明，多导联脑反射仪治疗tDCS可促进神经功能恢复，显着缩小脑梗死体积，促进脑组织康复，可有效抑制星形胶质细胞增生，增强缺血脑神经元存活和突触功能。

结论

我们的研究表明，多导联脑反射仪治疗的 tDCS 可以前瞻性地发展为临床治疗方式。