Functional electrical stimulation increases neural stem/progenitor cell proliferation and neurogenesis in the subventricular zone of rats with stroke

作者：Hui-Hua Liu, Yun Xiang, Tie-bin YAN, Zhimei Tan, Sheng-huo Li, Xiaokuo He · 发表于：Chinese Medical Journal · 年份：2013 · DOI：10.3760/cma.j.issn.0366-6999.20130478 · 被引用次数：19 · 研究领域：Neurogenesis and neuroplasticity mechanisms、Planarian Biology and Electrostimulation、Nerve injury and regeneration

BACKGROUND: Functional electrical stimulation (FES) is known to promote the recovery of motor function in rats with ischemia and to upregulate the expression of growth factors which support brain neurogenesis. In this study, we investigated whether postischemic FES could improve functional outcomes and modulate neurogenesis in the subventricular zone (SVZ) after focal cerebral ischemia. METHODS: Adult male Sprague-Dawley rats with permanent middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) were randomly assigned to the control group, the placebo stimulation group, and the FES group. The rats in each group were further assigned to one of four therapeutic periods (1, 3, 7, or 14 days). FES was delivered 48 hours after the MCAO procedure and divided into two 10-minute sessions on each day of treatment with a 10-minute rest between them. Two intraperitoneal injections of bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) were given 4 hours apart every day beginning 48 hours after the MCAO. Neurogenesis was evaluated by immunofuorescence staining. Wnt-3 which is strongly implicated in the proliferation and differentiation of neural stem cells (NSCs) was investigated by Western blotting analysis. The data were subjected to one- way analysis of variance (ANOVA), followed by a Tukey/Kramer or Dunnett post hoc test. RESULTS: FES significantly increased the number of BrdU-positive cells and BrdU/glial fibrillary acidic protein double- positive neural progenitor cells in the SVZ on days 7 and 14 of the treatment (P < 0.05...