Combination therapy using evening primrose oil and electrical stimulation to improve nerve function following a crush injury of sciatic nerve in male rats

Abstract

Peripheral nerve injuries with a poor prognosis are common. Evening primrose oil (EPO) has beneficial biological effects and immunomodulatory properties. Since electrical activity plays a major role in neural regeneration, the present study investigated the effects of electrical stimulation (ES), combined with evening primrose oil (EPO), on sciatic nerve function after a crush injury in rats. In anesthetized rats, the sciatic nerve was crushed using small haemostatic forceps followed by ES and/or EPO treatment for 4 weeks. Functional recovery of the sciatic nerve was assessed using the sciatic functional index. Histopathological changes of gastrocnemius muscle atrophy were investigated by light microscopy. Electrophysiological changes were assessed by the nerve conduction velocity of sciatic nerves. Immunohistochemistry was used to determine the remyelination of the sciatic nerve following the interventions. EPO + ES, EPO, and ES obviously improved sciatic nerve function assessed by the sciatic functional index and nerve conduction velocity of the sciatic nerve at 28 days after operation. Expression of the peripheral nerve remyelination marker, protein zero (P0), was increased in the treatment groups at 28 days after operation. Muscle atrophy severity was decreased significantly while the nerve conduction velocity was increased significantly in rats with sciatic nerve injury in the injury + EPO + ES group than in the EPO or ES group. Totally speaking, the combined use of EPO and ES may produce an improving effect on the function of sciatic nerves injured by a crush. The increased expression of P0 may have contributed to improving the functional effects of combination therapy with EPO and ES as well as the electrophysiological and histopathological features of the injured peripheral nerve.

Impacts of epidural electrical stimulation on Wnt signaling, FAAH, and BDNF following thoracic spinal cord injury in rat

“…The threshold of neuronal excitability in the spinal cord was recorded from each rat by muscle reflex in lower limbs. A day after ES implantation, epidural subthreshold ES (0.3-0.6 mA, 0.1 ms, 100 Hz) was applied at 10:00 a.m. for 1 hr each day for 14 consecutive days by a two-channel battery-powered electrical stimulator (WPI; A320; Badri et al, 2017).…”

Sub-threshold electrical stimulation improves wingless-type3 and eukaryotic initiation factor-2α expression in the presence of exogenous astrocyte in the rat model of spinal cord injury

“…Twenty-four hour later, threshold of neuronal excitability in the spinal cord was recorded from each rat (by revealing to muscle reflex in lower limbs). The sub-threshold electrical stimulation protocol has been applied from 10:00am by a 2channel battery-powered electrical stimulator (WPI; A320) every day (Badri et al, 2017). The electrical parameters of sub-threshold electrical stimulation followed by an amplitude between 0.3-0.6 (mA), pulse width: 0.1 (msec) and pulse rate delivered at 100Hz in the upper site of the injured location (Sadighi et al, 2013;Nejad et al, 2015;Badri et al, 2017).…”

Effect of Selenium and Electrical Stimulation on Sperm Parameters and Spinal Cord Repair: A Rat Model of Spinal Cord Injury

“…Despite numerous studies on the effects of ES on neurological repair, there is no consensus on the optimal frequency, duration, and length of training in patients with SCI. Badri et al (2017) have shown that combination treatment of Es and evening primrose oil improve nerve function following sciatic nerve injury in male rats. They have shown that combined treatment with EPO and ES might increase the re-myelination of the sciatic nerve in rats' sciatic nerve injury, contributing to the recovery of sciatic nerve function (13).…”