Behavior of parkinsonian rats with unilateral striatal lesion and medial forebrain bundle lesion under stimulation with different current intensities
Objective To compare the behavioral differences in Parkinson's disease (PD) rat models with 6-hydroxydopamine lesions of the unilateral striatum and the unilateral medial forebrain bundle (MFB) after deep brain stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus (STN-DBS) with different current intensities.Methods Twenty-four adult male Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were randomly divided into two groups, 1-site striatum lesion model group (n=12) and MFB lesion model group (n=12).Both groups were treated with STN-DBS at incrementally increasing current intensities of 0, 100, 150 and 200 μA.The differences in behavioral performance were compared using methamphetamine-induced rotational test, walking test and rotarod test.Results During methamphetamine-induced rotational test, when the current intensity reached 200 μA, the rotation count of the MFB lesion group decreased to (0.7±0.5) r/min, while the rotation of the 1-site striatum lesion group completely stopped (0 r/min).Compared to stimulation at 150 μA, the rotation symptoms of both groups were significantly improved (P<0.01).During walking test and rotarod test, when the current intensity reached 150 μA, compared to 100 μA stimulation, the initiation time in the 1-site striatum lesion group and the MFB lesion group significantly shortened to (4.2±1.8) s and (18±2.3) s, respectively.The average step length significantly increased to (14.6±0.6) cm and (14.8±0.8) cm, respectively.The number of step adjustments (forward) increased significantly to (4.5±0.5) and (4.2±0.4) steps, respectively.Step adjustments (backward) increased significantly to (11.2±0.3) and (11.4±0.4) steps, respectively.The ORP of rotarod test increased to (3405±572) and (2904±931) scores, respectively.The symptoms of movement disorders were significantly improved (P<0.01).Conclusion The electrical stimulation parameters for obtaining significant therapeutic effects in the STN-DBS treatment experiments on PD rat models are different for different symptoms.According to different experimental objectives, appropriate behavioral experimental methods should be selected to screen the best electrical stimulation parameters.