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. 2020 Apr 30;10(5):266.
doi: 10.3390/brainsci10050266.

Effect of Rehabilitation with Extremely Low Frequency Electromagnetic Field on Molecular Mechanism of Apoptosis in Post-Stroke Patients

Natalia Cichon  1 , Ewelina Synowiec  2 , Elzbieta Miller  3 , Tomasz Sliwinski  2 , Michal Ceremuga  4 , Joanna Saluk-Bijak  5 , Michal Bijak  1
Affiliations

Effect of Rehabilitation with Extremely Low Frequency Electromagnetic Field on Molecular Mechanism of Apoptosis in Post-Stroke Patients

Natalia Cichon et al. Brain Sci. .

Abstract

Apoptosis in acute stroke is associated with a negative prognosis and is correlated with the severity of the neurological deficit. However, there is no evidence that indicates that, in the subacute phase of the stroke, the apoptosis process might activate neuroplasticity. Therefore, in this study, we investigated the effect of an extremely low frequency electromagnetic field (ELF-EMF) on the molecular mechanism of apoptosis, as used in the rehabilitation of post-stroke patients. Patients with moderate stroke severity (n = 48), 3-4 weeks after incident, were enrolled in the analysis and divided into ELF-EMF and non-ELF-EMF group. The rehabilitation program in both groups involves the following: kinesiotherapy-30 min; psychological therapy-15 min; and neurophysiological routines-60 min. Additionally, the ELF-EMF group was exposed to an ELF-EMF (40 Hz, 5 mT). In order to assess the apoptosis gene expression level, we measured the mRNA expression of BAX, BCL-2, CASP8, TNFα, and TP53. We found that ELF-EMF significantly increased the expression of BAX, CASP8, TNFα, and TP53, whereas the BCL-2 mRNA expression after ELF-EMF exposition remained at a comparable level in both groups. Thus, we suggest that increasing the expression of pro-apoptotic genes in post-stroke patients promotes the activation of signaling pathways involved in brain plasticity processes. However, further research is needed to clarify this process.

Keywords: apoptosis; extremely low frequency electromagnetic field; neuroplasticity; stroke.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Device to generate extremely low frequency electromagnetic field (ELF-EMF)—Magnetronic MF10 (EiE Elektronika i Elektromedycyna, Otwock, Poland).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Comparison of the BAX mRNA expression acquired from the study group vs. control. Results formulated as parameter changes before and after therapy (100% expressed for the level of BAX mRNA expression in each patient sample before treatment). Statistical significance between ELF-EMF and non-ELF-EMF groups after 10 sessions amount to p < 0.0001.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Comparison of the BCL-2 mRNA expression acquired from the study group vs. control. Results formulated as parameter changes before and after therapy (100% expressed for the level of BCL-2 mRNA expression in each patient sample before treatment).
Figure 4
Figure 4
Comparison of the CASP8 mRNA expression acquired from the study group vs. control group. Results formulated as parameter changes before and after therapy (100% expressed for the level of CASP8 mRNA expression in each patient sample before treatment). Statistical significance between ELF-EMF and non-ELF-EMF groups after 10 sessions amount to p < 0.01.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Comparison of the TNFα mRNA expression acquired from the study group vs. control group. Results formulated as parameter changes before and after therapy (100% expressed for the level of TNFα mRNA expression in each patient sample before treatment). Statistical significance between ELF-EMF and non-ELF-EMF groups after 10 sessions amount to p < 0.0001.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Comparison of the TP53 mRNA expression acquired from the ELF-EMF group vs. the non-ELF-EMF group. Results formulated as parameter changes before and after therapy (100% expressed for the level of TP53 mRNA expression in each patient sample before treatment). Statistical significance between ELF-EMF and non-ELF-EMF groups after 10 sessions amount to p < 0.0001.
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