Kumar Suneel, Pal Ajay, Jain Suman, Velpandian Thirumurthy, Mathur Rashmi
Department of Physiology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi 110029, India.
Department of Ocular Pharmacy and Pharmacology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi 110029, India.
Brain Sci. 2021 Oct 28;11(11):1431. doi: 10.3390/brainsci11111431.
Traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI) is one of the most incapacitating pathologies, leading to huge rehabilitation challenges besides a social-economic burden on SCI patients and their families. There is no complete curative treatment available so far. Non-invasive and patient-friendly use of extremely low-frequency electromagnetic field stimulation (EMF) has emerged as a therapeutic and rehabilitation option. In this study, we tested whole-body EMF stimulation on thoracic complete SCI-induced nociception including sensorimotor deficits in rats. The EMF application significantly attenuated hyperalgesia and allodynia to thermal, electrical, and chemical stimuli from 6 weeks onwards as well as restoration of spinal reflexes, viz., H-reflex and nociceptive flexion reflex at the study endpoint (week 8). Besides, massively increased glutamate at the SCI injury site was observed in SCI rats with no treatment, which was also attenuated significantly by EMF stimulation. Spinal cord histology of the injury area showed a decrease in lesion volume and glial population in the EMF-stimulated rats. These findings indicate the beneficial role of EMF stimulation after thoracic complete SCI in adult male rats and, thereby, a beneficial patient-friendly rehabilitation tool.
创伤性脊髓损伤（SCI）是最使人丧失能力的病症之一，除了给SCI患者及其家庭带来社会经济负担外，还导致巨大的康复挑战。到目前为止，尚无完整的治愈性治疗方法。极低频电磁场刺激（EMF）的非侵入性且对患者友好的应用已成为一种治疗和康复选择。在本研究中，我们测试了全身EMF刺激对大鼠胸段完全性SCI诱导的伤害感受（包括感觉运动缺陷）的影响。从第6周起，EMF应用显著减轻了对热、电和化学刺激的痛觉过敏和异常性疼痛，以及在研究终点（第8周）时脊髓反射（即H反射和伤害性屈曲反射）的恢复。此外，在未经治疗的SCI大鼠中，观察到SCI损伤部位的谷氨酸大量增加，而EMF刺激也使其显著减少。损伤区域的脊髓组织学显示，EMF刺激的大鼠病变体积和胶质细胞数量减少。这些发现表明，EMF刺激对成年雄性大鼠胸段完全性SCI后具有有益作用，因此是一种有益的、对患者友好的康复工具。
