| Author: | Wong, Kai-yuen |
| Title: | The plasticity effects of Neuromuscular Electrical Stimulation (NMES) for stroke rehabilitation through Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) study |
| Degree: | M.Sc. |
| Year: | 2008 |
| Subject: | Hong Kong Polytechnic University -- Dissertations. Electric stimulation. Electrotherapeutics. Neuromuscular diseases -- Treatment. Cerebrovascular disease -- Patients -- Rehabilitation. Brain -- Degeneration. |
| Department: | Department of Health Technology and Informatics |
| Pages: | xiv, 87 leaves : ill. (some col.) ; 30 cm. |
| Language: | English |
| Abstract: | Although Neuromuscular Electrical Stimulation (NMES) and exercise are widely accepted as effective post-stroke rehabilitation therapies and Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF), it is proved to be the key factor in supporting survival and growth of neuronal subtypes, however the actual plasticity effect of the captioned interventions for stroke rehabilitation through BDNF expression is still unclear. The aim of this study is to investigate the underlying mechanism of the plasticity effects of NMES and treadmill exercise intervention in the hippocampus and lumbar spinal cord through BDNF study of 15 Sprague-Dawley (SD) adult male rats which were induced to ischemic stroke by Middle Cerebral Artery Occlusion (MCAo). The rats were assigned randomly into 3 groups: Intervention Group, Control Group and Sham Group with each group consisting of 5 rats. BDNF levels of hippocampus and lumbar spinal cord of each sample were measured by Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) molecular test. Both, Limb Placement Tests (LPTs) and Beam Walking Test (BWT) were used to monitor the level of stroke and recovery status. One-way ANOVA was applied to test the significant level of the null hypothesis for the effect of interventions on behavioral recovery and BDNF levels respectively. The scores obtained in LPTs and BWT showed a statistically significant difference between each group while NMES and treadmill exercise intervention was not found to have any statistically significant effect on either behavioral recovery or BDNF level measured in ELISA test between each group. Mean BDNF level of hippocampus of Control Group was the highest among the groups which might be contributed to self-recovery response after stroke. However, mean BDNF level of Intervention Group became the highest among the groups in the lumbar spinal cord. Interesting results showed that BDNF changed differently between the brain and the spinal cord. Further study is suggested to recruit a larger sample size and explore the plasticity changes in the spinal cord and the brain. In addition, pre-experiment intervention familiarization should be conducted for improving the experimental protocol. |
| Rights: | All rights reserved |
| Access: | restricted access |
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| File | Description | Size | Format | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| b21741244.pdf | For All Users (off-campus access for PolyU Staff & Students only) | 10.44 MB | Adobe PDF | View/Open |
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