Mendoza-Mari Yssel, Stojanovic Marija, Miulli Dan E, Agrawal Devendra K
Department of Translational Research, College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific, Western University of Health Sciences, Pomona CA 91766, USA.
Department of Neurosurgery, Riverside University Health System Medical Center, Moreno Valley, CA, USA.
J Surg Res (Houst). 2025;8(3):305-312. doi: 10.26502/jsr.10020453. Epub 2025 Jul 2.
Neuroinflammation plays a key role in the development of CNS pathologies. This event encompasses a series of mechanisms involving the immune system and its cellular and molecular components. While it is necessary to activate the innate immune system during the early response to pathogens or traumas, persistent inflammation hinders neuronal recovery and contributes to the development of long-term neuronal complications. In this way, the application of pharmacological and non-pharmacological treatments is crucial to achieving better recovery of patients. We recently observed that the application of a low frequency electromagnetic field (EMF) decreases the expression of pro-inflammatory markers in an animal model of Traumatic Brain Injury in swine. To characterize this effect in terms of individualized response of neurons and microglial cells, we performed an in vitro model of pro-inflammatory damage by treating two different cell lines with tumor necrosis factor-α and then stimulating the cells with two frequencies of EMF. Transcriptional expression of inflammatory mediators was analyzed 24 and 48 hours after. Our results showed that both cell lines are susceptible to EMF, responding to the treatment by reducing the levels of the target genes in study. These observations further support the anti-inflammatory effect of EMF in the function of neurons and microglial cells and thus enhancing the recovery following traumatic brain injury, as observed under in vivo conditions in both experimental animals and human. These findings lay the foundation and warrants further preclinical and clinical studies to determine the effective frequency and duration of EMF stimulation in the healing of brain injury.
神经炎症在中枢神经系统病理发展中起关键作用。这一过程涉及一系列机制，包括免疫系统及其细胞和分子成分。虽然在对病原体或创伤的早期反应中激活先天免疫系统是必要的，但持续性炎症会阻碍神经元恢复，并导致长期神经元并发症的发展。因此，应用药物和非药物治疗对于患者实现更好的恢复至关重要。我们最近观察到，在猪创伤性脑损伤动物模型中，应用低频电磁场（EMF）可降低促炎标志物的表达。为了从神经元和小胶质细胞的个体反应方面表征这种效应，我们通过用肿瘤坏死因子-α处理两种不同的细胞系，然后用两种频率的EMF刺激细胞，建立了一种促炎性损伤的体外模型。在处理后24小时和48小时分析炎症介质的转录表达。我们的结果表明，两种细胞系都对EMF敏感，通过降低研究中靶基因的水平对治疗作出反应。这些观察结果进一步支持了EMF在神经元和小胶质细胞功能中的抗炎作用，从而促进创伤性脑损伤后的恢复，这在实验动物和人类的体内条件下均有观察到。这些发现为进一步的临床前和临床研究奠定了基础，以确定EMF刺激在脑损伤愈合中的有效频率和持续时间。
