Nerve Injuries & PEMF
It is suggested that PEMF might have a direct CORRECTIVE effect on injured nerves & would be a promising non-invasive therapeutic tool for the treatment of DPN.
Introduction:
Diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN) is generally considered to be one of the most common complications of diabetes mellitus, affecting both types of diabetes equally [1–3]. Studies suggest that about 30% of patients with diabetes mellitus are affected by DPN and 16–26% of diabetic patients experience chronic pain [4]. DPN is characterized by aberrant symptoms of stimulus-evoked pain including all odynia and hyperalgesia [5], and it often leads to mood and sleep disturbance, and thus can substantially impair the quality and expectancy of life [6,7]. Therefore, it imposes a huge burden on both individuals and society, and represents a major public health problem. However, beyond the careful management of the diabetes itself via glycemic control and pain relief for neuropathy, no treatment for DPN exists [8,9]. Potential toxicity, poor tolerability and ineffectiveness for some percent of diabetic patients are major disadvantages of the current therapeutic options. For this reason, there is a need to explore other non-pharmacological novel therapeutic modalities with efficacy and safety, particularly when diabetic patients require a combined treatment with an oral antidiabetic drug to prevent the development of DPN. Numerous clinical studies have reported that pulsed electro-magnetic fields (PEMF) are able to modify some parameters of nerve function in diabetic patients [10,11], and a voluminous amount of literature has suggested that PEMF can stimulate nerve growth, regeneration, and functional recovery of nerves in cells in vitro or in animal models with nerve disease [12–16]. However, the application of PEMF for clinic is still controversial [17]. Therefore, more research is needed to confirm the therapeutic effects of PEMF on DPN and then to justify the applicability of PEMF for clinical practice. Since few studies have examined the effects of PEMF on neuropathy induced by diabetes mellitus in animals at present, this study aimed to test whether PEMF has therapeutic potential in relieving diabetes-induced neuropathy in animals.
Abstract:
Although numerous clinical studies have reported that pulsed electromagnetic fields (PEMF) have a neuroprotective role inpatients with diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN), the application of PEMF for clinic is still controversial. The present study was designed to investigate whether PEMF has therapeutic potential in relieving peripheral neuropathic symptoms instreptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic rats. Adult male Sprague–Dawley rats were randomly divided into three weight-matched groups (eight in each group): the non-diabetic control group (Control), diabetes mellitus with 15 Hz PEMFexposure group (DM+PEMF) which were subjected to daily 8-h PEMF exposure for 7 weeks and diabetes mellitus with sham PEMF exposure group (DM). Signs and symptoms of DPN in STZ-treated rats were investigated by using behavioral assays.Meanwhile, ultrastructural examination and immunohisto chemical study for vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) of sciatic nerve were also performed. During a 7-week experimental observation, we found that PEMF stimulation did not alter hyperglycemia and weight loss in STZ-treated rats with DPN. However, PEMF stimulation attenuated the development of the abnormalities observed in STZ-treated rats with DPN, which were demonstrated by increased hind paw withdrawal threshold to mechanical and thermal stimuli, slighter demyelination and axon enlargement and less VEGF immunostaining of sciatic nerve compared to those of the DM group. The current study demonstrates that treatment with PEMF might prevent the development of abnormalities observed in animal models for DPN. It is suggested that PEMF might have direct corrective effects on injured nerves and would be a potentially promising non-invasive therapeutic tool for the treatment of DPN.
