Resuscitation therapy for traumatic brain injury-induced coma in rats: mechanisms of median nerve electrical stimulation

• Main Authors: Zhen Feng, Ying-jun Zhong, Liang Wang, Tian-qi Wei
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications 2015-01-01
• Series: Neural Regeneration Research
• Subjects: spinal cord injury; propriospinal system; neural plasticity; fiber sprouting; neural repair; compensation; regeneration; propriospinal detours; neurotrophic factors; cell-adhesive ligands; dorsal root ganglia; L1CAM; nerve growth factor; biomaterials; elastin-like proteins; Alzheimer′s disease; AMPK; apoptosis; autophagy; central nervous system; CCN4; EGF; diabetes mellitus; erythropoietin; EPO; FGF; IGF-1; mTOR; neuron; neuropathy; oxidative stress; psychiatric; stem cells; WISP1; Wnt; peripheral nerve injury; nerve graft; nerve conduit; Wallerian degeneration; veins; autografts; nerve regeneration; neuroprotection; resveratrol; cerebral ischemia; cerebral infarction; matrix metalloproteinase; molecular docking; extracellular matrix; neural regeneration; vagus nerve stimulation; inflammatory cytokines; infarct volume; neurological function; NSFC grants; Xingnao Kaiqiao needling method; ischemic stroke; randomized controlled trial; systemic reviews; meta-analysis; long-term efficacy; mortality; recurrence; disability; adverse reactions; health economics indicators; DDPH; hippocampus; blood flow; isolated basilar artery; dose-response curve; NSFC grant; traumatic brain injury; coma; median nerve electrical stimulation; wake-promoting; orexin-A; OX1R
• Online Access: http://www.nrronline.org/article.asp?issn=1673-5374;year=2015;volume=10;issue=4;spage=594;epage=598;aulast=Feng

In this study, rats were put into traumatic brain injury-induced coma and treated with median nerve electrical stimulation. We explored the wake-promoting effect, and possible mechanisms, of median nerve electrical stimulation. Electrical stimulation upregulated the expression levels of orexin-A and its receptor OX1R in the rat prefrontal cortex. Orexin-A expression gradually increased with increasing stimulation, while OX1R expression reached a peak at 12 hours and then decreased. In addition, after the OX1R antagonist, SB334867, was injected into the brain of rats after traumatic brain injury, fewer rats were restored to consciousness, and orexin-A and OXIR expression in the prefrontal cortex was downregulated. Our findings indicate that median nerve electrical stimulation induced an up-regulation of orexin-A and OX1R expression in the prefrontal cortex of traumatic brain injury-induced coma rats, which may be a potential mechanism involved in the wake-promoting effects of median nerve electrical stimulation.