Investigation of the effects of electrical stimulation on BDNF and NGF levels in the sciatic nerve injury rat model

The current study aimed to investigate the effects of electrical stimulation on brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and nerve growth factor (NGF) levels in rats with sciatic nerve injury. Twenty-eight rats were divided into four groups of sham (S, n=7), electrical stimulation (ES, n=7), sciatic nerve injury (SNI, n=7) and sciatic nerve injury+electrical stimulation (SNI+ES, n=7). An experimental nerve damage model was produced by applying a closing force to compress the sciatic nerve. Electrical stimulation was applied for twenty minutes at 200 mu s, 2mA, and 20 Hz for fifteen days. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay analysis was used to evaluate the levels of NGF and BDNF. It was shown that the SNI group had higher brain BDNF levels than the other groups, while the S group had lower brain BDNF levels than the other groups (P<0.001). The ES and SNI groups had higher serum BDNF levels than the S and SNI+ES groups (P<0.01), while the SNI group had higher brain NGF levels than the S and SNI+ES groups (P<0.05). In comparison to the S and ES groups, the serum NGF levels in the SNI and SNI+ES groups were shown to be lower (P<0.01). Following the sciatic nerve damage, it was measured that the administration of electrical stimulation resulted in an increase in brain BDNF and a decrease in serum NGF. According to this research, electrical stimulation may have an impact on the release of NGF and BDNF after sciatic nerve damage.