Clinical Trial Center for Medical Devices of Yeungnam University Hospital, Daegu, Korea.
J Korean Med Sci. 2013 Feb;28(2):295-9. doi: 10.3346/jkms.2013.28.2.295. Epub 2013 Jan 29.
Spinal cord injury (SCI) causes not only loss of sensory and motor function below the level of injury but also chronic pain, which is difficult and challenging of the treatment. Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) to the motor cortex, of non-invasive therapeutic methods, has the motor and sensory consequences and modulates pain in SCI-patients. In the present study, we studied the effectiveness of rTMS and the relationship between the modulation of pain and the changes of neuroglial expression in the spinal cord using a rat SCI-induced pain model. Elevated expressions of Iba1 and GFAP, specific microglial and astrocyte markers, was respectively observed in dorsal and ventral horns at the L4 and L5 levels in SCI rats. But in SCI rats treated with 25 Hz rTMS for 8 weeks, these expressions were significantly reduced by about 30%. Our finding suggests that this attenuation of activation by rTMS is related to pain modulation after SCI. Therefore, rTMS might provide an alternative means of attenuating neuropathic pain below the level of SCI.
脊髓损伤（SCI）不仅导致损伤以下水平的感觉和运动功能丧失，还导致慢性疼痛，这是治疗的难点和挑战。经颅重复磁刺激（rTMS）是一种非侵入性的治疗方法，对 SCI 患者的运动和感觉后果以及疼痛调节具有作用。在本研究中，我们使用大鼠 SCI 诱导的疼痛模型研究了 rTMS 的有效性以及疼痛调节与脊髓神经胶质表达变化之间的关系。在 SCI 大鼠的 L4 和 L5 水平的背角和腹角中，分别观察到 Iba1 和 GFAP（特异性小胶质细胞和星形胶质细胞标志物）的表达升高。但在接受 25 Hz rTMS 治疗 8 周的 SCI 大鼠中，这些表达水平约降低了 30%。我们的发现表明，rTMS 对激活的这种抑制作用与 SCI 后疼痛调节有关。因此，rTMS 可能为减轻 SCI 以下水平的神经性疼痛提供了一种替代方法。
