Therapeutic effects of acrobatic exercise and magnetic field exposure on functional recovery after spinal cord injury in mice

Abstract

The effects of acrobatic exercise and magnetic stimulation (MS) in mice applied either separately or in combination while on recovery after spinal cord injury have been investigated. This progress has been compared in six groups of animals. The first two groups consisted of non-injured and injured animals, respectively, which were not exposed to any treatment. The third group included injured animals that participated in an acrobatic exercise and were exposed to MS applied at the frequency of 1 Hz. The animals in the fourth group were exposed to the MS (1 Hz) only, without performing any acrobatic exercises. While the mice in the fifth group participated in the acrobatic exercise and were exposed to MS at 15 Hz, the animals in group six received an acrobatic exercise without exposure to MS. The effects of the treatment were evaluated with the Basso Mouse Scale, the Horizontal Ladder Scale, and the Abnormal Posture Scale. While all groups showed improvement at the end of the study period, the animals that received exercise combined with 1 Hz MS demonstrated the best functional improvement. The animals exposed to the MS applied at a frequency of 15 Hz combined with acrobatic exercise, and those animals that were engaged in exercise and were not exposed to the MS, performed the worst. The area of the spared white matter at the lesion center correlated well with functional recovery and was greatest in the animals that received MS (1 Hz) combined with exercise.

Iron oxide nanoparticles and magnetic field exposure promote functional recovery by attenuating free radical-induced damage in rats with spinal cord transection

“…[26][27][28][29][30][31] In rat models of spinal cord injury (SCI), exposure to a low intensity MF results in significant improvement in locomotor, sensorimotor, and autonomic function. [32][33][34][35][36] Stimulation of the motor cortex by repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation is beneficial, especially in lower thoracic SCI lesions, because it activates the central pattern generator via descending serotonin pathways. 28 In vitro, exposure to an MF increases the overall viability of mouse monoclonal hippocampal HT22 cells and has a neuroprotective effect against oxidative stressors.…”

“…8 Use of an MF in restoration of locomotion, improving muscle properties, and promoting osteoporosis is extremely beneficial in SCI. [31][32][33]45 Bladder control is also restored by functional magnetic stimulation in animal models of SCI and in patients. [46][47][48][49][50] In the present study, the locomotor behavior, feeding patterns, and body weight of SCI rats exposed to an MF showed significant improvement in comparison with SCI rats not exposed to an MF.…”

“…These results are comparable with previous reports of repeated low-intensity MF stimulation in SCI rats and may be mediated by the effects of the MF on free radical-induced secondary injury or by activation of the central pattern generator center for locomotion by serotonin pathways. [28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36] 5-Hydroxytryptamine has an important role in modulating the excitability of motor and sensory neurons in the spinal cord, thereby influencing locomotion and sensorimotor behavior. [51][52][53][54][55] Exposure to an MF has been shown to restore the metabolism, synthesis, and distribution of 5-hydroxytryptamine in the spinal cord and brain.…”

Estratégia terapêutica após contusão da medula espinhal: recuperação funcional e estabilidade cortical sensório-motora

“…O comportamento motor e sensorial em modelos experimentais após a LM por contusão sofre diversas alterações que podem ser quantificadas a partir de escalas padronizadas e testes específicos, tais como: resposta reflexa, análise de pegadas, cinemática (Kunkel-Bagden et al,1993), escala BBB (Basso et al, 1995), atividade exploratória em campo aberto (Metz e Whishaw, 2000), von Frey Hair Test (Hutchinson et al, 2004;Kloos et al, 2005), grid walking (Ma et al, 2001;Erschbamer et al, 2006;Bigbee et al, 2007), eletromiografia (Bolton et al, 2006), escada horizontal (Cummings et al, 2007;Girgis et al, 2007;Ahmed et al, 2011), entre outros (para revisão ver Šedý et al, 2008).…”

“…Além da estimulação elétrica funcional, outros modelos de estimulações, como a estimulação magnética ou epidural, são aplicadas diretamente na medula de ratos lesados com o objetivo de melhorar os aspectos negativos decorrentes da lesão (Gerasimenko et al, 2007;Ahmed e Wieraszko, 2008;Ahmed et al, 2011) Um modelo de reabilitação que também visa o contato com diferentes objetos, assim como os exercícios acrobáticos, é no ambiente enriquecido. Esta estratégia terapêutica foi adotada por alguns pesquisadores para verificar a recuperação funcional de ratos lesados (Lankhorst et al, 2001;Meeteren et al, 2003;Fisher e Peduzzi, 2007;Berrocal et al, 2007).…”