Antiepileptic effects of electroacupuncture vs vagus nerve stimulation on cortical epileptiform activities.
J Neurol Sci
; 270(1-2): 114-21, 2008 Jul 15.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-18394652
ABSTRACT
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.
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Vagus Nerve
/
Electroacupuncture
/
Cerebral Cortex
/
Electric Stimulation Therapy
/
Epilepsy
Type of study:
Prognostic_studies
Limits:
Animals
Language:
En
Journal:
J Neurol Sci
Year:
2008
Document type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Hong Kong