Short-term Effectiveness of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation in the Nociceptive Behavior of Neuropathic Pain Rats in Development

Overview

Journal AIMS Neurosci

Specialty Neurology

Date 2024 Jan 8

PMID 38188001

Authors

Priscila Centeno Crespo

Leo Anderson Meira Martins

Otavio Garcia Martins

Clara Camacho Dos Reis

Ricardo Netto Goulart

Andressa de Souza

Liciane Fernandes Medeiros

Vanessa Leal Scarabelot

Giovana Duzzo Gamaro

Sabrina Pereira Silva

Marcos Roberto de Oliveira

Iraci Lucena Da Silva Torres

Izabel Cristina Custodio de Souza

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Neuropathic pain (NP) is caused by a lesion that triggers pain chronification and central sensitization and it can develop in a different manner, dependent of age. Recent studies have demonstrated the efficacy of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) for treating NP. Then, we aimed to investigate the effects of tDCS and BDNF levels in neuropathic pain rats in development, with 30 days old in the beginning of experiments. Eight-five male rats were subjected to chronic constriction injury. After establishment of NP, bimodal tDCS was applied to the rats for eight consecutive days, for 20 minutes each session. Subsequently, nociceptive behavior was assessed at baseline, 14 days after surgery, 1 day and 7 days after the end of tDCS. The rats were sacrificed 8 days after the last session of tDCS. An increase in the nociceptive threshold was observed in rats in development 1 day after the end of tDCS (short-term effect), but this effect was not maintained 7 days after the end of tDCS (long-term effect). Furthermore, brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) levels were analyzed in the frontal cortex, spinal cord and serum using ELISA assays. The neuropathic pain model showed an effect of BDNF in the spinal cord of rats in development. There were no effects of BNDF levels of pain or tDCS in the frontal cortex or serum. In conclusion, tDCS is an effective technique to relieve nociceptive behavior at a short-term effect in neuropathic pain rats in development, and BDNF levels were not altered at long-term effect.

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