據(jù)3月20日的《科學》雜志報道說，對嚙齒類動物的新的研究表明,，用電來刺激脊髓可能在某一天能夠幫助治療帕金森氏病的癥狀,，并可能給該病的深部腦刺激提供一種替代的療法，因為前者需要用到高度創(chuàng)傷性的手術(shù)方法,。
Romulo Fuentes及其同僚是根據(jù)早先的發(fā)現(xiàn)來設(shè)計他們的研究的,。在先前的研究中，他們發(fā)現(xiàn),，刺激外周神經(jīng)系統(tǒng)（相對于腦來說）會減少癲癇樣發(fā)作,。 為了調(diào)查用類似的方法是否也可對帕金森氏病有效，他們用了一組植入性電極來刺激具有帕金森樣癥狀的大鼠和小鼠的脊髓神經(jīng)元,。 在被刺激的時候,，這些動物的運動變得更為頻繁而且較少出現(xiàn)運動遲緩的現(xiàn)象 – 即，比刺激之前其表現(xiàn)更像一種正常的動物,。 之所以會出現(xiàn)運動遲緩這種效應(yīng)是因為帕金森氏病的運動神經(jīng)元陷入一種神經(jīng)元同步放電的故障狀態(tài),。 這種電刺激可能是通過將這種放電過程進行去同步化而奏效，即,，將關(guān)鍵性的腦區(qū)域轉(zhuǎn)移到一種更適合于運動的狀態(tài),。
目前，在帕金森氏病的早期,，人們一般使用多巴胺替代藥物來治療損害的運動功能,，盡管這種治療的長期效果不佳。 腦深部電刺激是藥物治療的一個有用的補充治療方式,，但它要求將植入電極小心精確地放置在腦部的各區(qū)域。 如果未來的研究顯示這種方法在人體中也是安全有效的話,，那么在本研究中所描述的硬膜外手術(shù)可能會是一種受歡迎的備選治療方法,。（生物谷Bioon.com）
生物谷推薦原始出處：
Science 20 March 2009:DOI: 10.1126/science.1164901
Spinal Cord Stimulation Restores Locomotion in Animal Models of Parkinson's Disease
Romulo Fuentes,1* Per Petersson,1,2* William B. Siesser,3 Marc G. Caron,1,3 Miguel A. L. Nicolelis1,4,5,6,7,8
Dopamine replacement therapy is useful for treating motor symptoms in the early phase of Parkinson's disease, but it is less effective in the long term. Electrical deep-brain stimulation is a valuable complement to pharmacological treatment but involves a highly invasive surgical procedure. We found that epidural electrical stimulation of the dorsal columns in the spinal cord restores locomotion in both acute pharmacologically induced dopamine-depleted mice and in chronic 6-hydroxydopamine–lesioned rats. The functional recovery was paralleled by a disruption of aberrant low-frequency synchronous corticostriatal oscillations, leading to the emergence of neuronal activity patterns that resemble the state normally preceding spontaneous initiation of locomotion. We propose that dorsal column stimulation might become an efficient and less invasive alternative for treatment of Parkinson's disease in the future.
1 Department of Neurobiology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27710, USA.
2 Department of Experimental Medical Science, Neuronano Research Center, Lund University, BMC F10, 221 84 Lund, Sweden.
3 Department of Cell Biology, Duke University, Durham, NC 27710, USA.
4 Center for Neuroengineering, Duke University, Durham, NC 27710, USA.
5 Department of Biomedical Engineering, Duke University, Durham, NC 27710, USA.
6 Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Duke University, Durham, NC 27710, USA.
7 Edmond and Lily Safra International Institute of Neuroscience of Natal (ELS-IINN), Natal RN 59066060, Brazil.
8 Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne 1015, Switzerland.
