TY - JOUR
T1 - Antiepileptic effects of electroacupuncture vs vagus nerve stimulation on cortical epileptiform activities
AU - Zhang, Jian Liang
AU - Zhang, Shi Ping
AU - Zhang, Hong Qi
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by HKBU FRG/04-05/I-16 and FRG/05-06/II-55. We thank Ms Nickie Chan for her technical assistance.
PY - 2008/7/15
Y1 - 2008/7/15
N2 - Introduced about two decades ago, vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) therapy has been increasingly used for the treatment of refractory epilepsy recently. This study was set out to compare the effects between VNS and electroacupuncture (EA) on pentylenetetrazole (PTZ) induced epileptiform activities in the rat cerebral cortex. Under general anesthesia, the parietal cortex of the rat (n = 20) was exposed to record the cortical epileptiform activities. The left vagus nerve was stimulated at 30 Hz, 1 mA or 3 mA for 5 min. For EA, "Dazhui" acupoint (GV14) was stimulated with a pair of acupuncture needles with the same parameters. The results show that both VNS and EA at either 1 mA or 3 mA could inhibit the PTZ-induced cortical epileptiform activities, and higher stimulation (3 mA) was not associated with a greater inhibition. In the cases that showed inhibitory responses, there were no statistically significant differences between the two modalities, implying that EA could be comparable to VNS in the treatment of epilepsy. Thus, under current experimental settings, the antiepileptic effect induced by electrical stimulation appeared not vagal specific, and EA could be a good alternative to VNS in the management of epilepsy.
AB - Introduced about two decades ago, vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) therapy has been increasingly used for the treatment of refractory epilepsy recently. This study was set out to compare the effects between VNS and electroacupuncture (EA) on pentylenetetrazole (PTZ) induced epileptiform activities in the rat cerebral cortex. Under general anesthesia, the parietal cortex of the rat (n = 20) was exposed to record the cortical epileptiform activities. The left vagus nerve was stimulated at 30 Hz, 1 mA or 3 mA for 5 min. For EA, "Dazhui" acupoint (GV14) was stimulated with a pair of acupuncture needles with the same parameters. The results show that both VNS and EA at either 1 mA or 3 mA could inhibit the PTZ-induced cortical epileptiform activities, and higher stimulation (3 mA) was not associated with a greater inhibition. In the cases that showed inhibitory responses, there were no statistically significant differences between the two modalities, implying that EA could be comparable to VNS in the treatment of epilepsy. Thus, under current experimental settings, the antiepileptic effect induced by electrical stimulation appeared not vagal specific, and EA could be a good alternative to VNS in the management of epilepsy.
KW - Cortex
KW - Electroacupuncture
KW - Epilepsy
KW - Pentylenetetrazole
KW - Rat
KW - Vagus nerve stimulation
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=44649101362&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.jns.2008.02.015
DO - 10.1016/j.jns.2008.02.015
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 18394652
AN - SCOPUS:44649101362
SN - 0022-510X
VL - 270
SP - 114
EP - 121
JO - Journal of the Neurological Sciences
JF - Journal of the Neurological Sciences
IS - 1-2
ER -