Epidural oscillating field stimulation as an effective therapeutic approach in combination therapy for spinal cord injury

• Published in: Journal of neuroscience methods Vol. 311; pp. 102 - 110
• Main Authors: Bacova, Maria, Bimbova, Katarina, Fedorova, Jana, Lukacova, Nadezda, Galik, Jan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Netherlands Elsevier B.V 01.01.2019
• Subjects: Animals; Astrocytes - pathology; Disease Models, Animal; Electric Stimulation Therapy - instrumentation; Electric Stimulation Therapy - methods; Electrodes, Implanted; Female; Functional outcome; Intermediate Filaments - pathology; Nerve Regeneration; Neurofilaments; Oscillating field stimulation; Rats, Wistar; Reduction of astrogliosis; Spared white matter; Spinal Cord - pathology; Spinal Cord - physiopathology; Spinal Cord Injuries - pathology; Spinal Cord Injuries - physiopathology; Spinal Cord Injuries - therapy; Spinal Th9 compression; Treatment Outcome; Neurofilaments; Reduction of astrogliosis; Spared white matter; Oscillating field stimulation; Spinal Th9 compression; Functional outcome
• ISSN: 0165-0270; 1872-678X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jneumeth.2018.10.020

•Epidural implantation of oscillating field (OF) stimulator after Th9 SCI in rats.•OF stimulation improves axon regeneration and reduces astrogliosis after SCI.•Promising method for combination SCI therapy in future studies. Traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI) causes partial or total loss of sensory and motor functions. Despite enormous efforts, there is still no effective treatment which might improve patients’ neurological status.The application of electric current to the injured spinal cord is known to promote healing and tissue regeneration. The use of this modality in treating the injured spinal cord to improve neurological recovery has been introduced as a potential treatment. Here we describe the method of epidural implantation of a miniature oscillating field (OF) stimulator designed in our laboratory immediately after Th9 spinal compression in Wistar rats. Three groups of animals were analyzed (intact; SCI only; OFS + SCI; n = 8 each). Histological, immunohistological and behavioral analysis were used to show the favorable effect of epidural OF stimulation on axonal regeneration and modulation of astrogliosis. Our study revealed considerable differences in white matter integrity in animals with an implanted OF stimulator. Moreover, we detected significantly increased numbers of neurofilaments and massive reduction in activated forms of astrocytes in the group of stimulated animals compared to the animals without stimulation. Compared with previous research, our study revealed that epidural implantation of an OF stimulator immediately after spinal compression effectively reduced the expression of inflammatory response and suppressed activated astrocyte formation. Our finding confirms that implanting an OF stimulator is safe, stable and suitable for future combined therapy which could effectively promote and accelerate regeneration and functional restoration after spinal trauma.