School of Biomedical Engineering, College of Biomedical Engineering, Taipei Medical University, Taipei 110, Taiwan.
International Ph.D. Program in Biomedical Engineering, College of Biomedical Engineering, Taipei Medical University, Taipei 110, Taiwan.
Int J Mol Sci. 2022 Aug 21;23(16):9447. doi: 10.3390/ijms23169447.
Paired stimulation of the brain and spinal cord can remodel the central nervous tissue circuitry in an animal model to induce motor neuroplasticity. The effects of simultaneous stimulation vary according to the extent and severity of spinal cord injury. Therefore, our study aimed to determine the significant effects on an incomplete SCI rat brain and spinal cord through 3 min and 20 min stimulations after 4 weeks of intervention. Thirty-three Sprague Dawley rats were classified into six groups: (1) normal, (2) sham, (3) iTBS/tsDCS, (4) iTBS/ts-iTBS, (5) rTMS/tsDCS, and (6) rTMS/ts-iTBS. Paired stimulation of the brain cortex and spinal cord thoracic (T10) level was applied simultaneously for 3−20 min. The motor evoked potential (MEP) and Basso, Beattie, and Bresnahan (BBB) scores were recorded after every week of intervention for four weeks along with wheel training for 20 min. Three-minute stimulation with the iTBS/tsDCS intervention induced a significant (p < 0.050 *) increase in MEP after week 2 and week 4 treatments, while 3 min iTBS/ts-iTBS significantly improved MEP (p < 0.050 *) only after the week 3 intervention. The 20 min rTMS/ts-iTBS intervention showed a significant change only in post_5 min after week 4. The BBB score also changed significantly in all groups except for the 20 min rTMS/tsDCS intervention. iTBS/tsDCS and rTMS/ts-iTBS interventions induce neuroplasticity in an incomplete SCI animal model by significantly changing electrophysiological (MEP) and locomotion (BBB) outcomes.
大脑和脊髓的配对刺激可以重塑动物模型中的中枢神经系统组织电路,诱导运动神经可塑性。脊髓损伤的程度和严重程度会影响同步刺激的效果。因此,我们的研究旨在通过在干预 4 周后进行 3 分钟和 20 分钟刺激,确定对不完全性脊髓损伤大鼠大脑和脊髓的显著影响。33 只 Sprague Dawley 大鼠被分为六组:(1)正常组,(2)假手术组,(3)iTBS/tsDCS 组,(4)iTBS/ts-iTBS 组,(5)rTMS/tsDCS 组和(6)rTMS/ts-iTBS 组。大脑皮层和脊髓胸(T10)水平同时进行配对刺激,持续 3-20 分钟。在干预的四周内,每周进行一次运动诱发电位(MEP)和 Basso、Beattie 和 Bresnahan(BBB)评分记录,并进行 20 分钟的轮式训练。在第 2 周和第 4 周治疗后,3 分钟 iTBS/tsDCS 干预可显著(p<0.050*)增加 MEP,而 3 分钟 iTBS/ts-iTBS 仅在第 3 周干预后显著改善 MEP(p<0.050*)。仅在第 4 周的 5 分钟后,20 分钟 rTMS/ts-iTBS 干预才显示出显著变化。除了 20 分钟 rTMS/tsDCS 干预外,所有组的 BBB 评分也都发生了显著变化。iTBS/tsDCS 和 rTMS/ts-iTBS 干预通过显著改变电生理(MEP)和运动(BBB)结果,在不完全性脊髓损伤动物模型中诱导神经可塑性。