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Transcranial direct current stimulation transiently increases the blood‐brain barrier solute permeability in rat brain
Author(s) -
Fu Bingmei,
Shin Da Wi,
Khadka Niranjan,
Fan Jie,
Bikson Marom
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.31.1_supplement.705.3
Subject(s) - blood–brain barrier , transcranial direct current stimulation , stimulation , chemistry , fluorescein , permeability (electromagnetism) , brain stimulation , biophysics , anesthesia , medicine , fluorescence , central nervous system , biology , membrane , biochemistry , physics , quantum mechanics
Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) is a non‐invasive electrical stimulation technique investigated for a broad range of medical and performance indications. To test the hypothesis that tDCS with proper dosages can achieve non‐invasive, selective and temporary increases in the blood‐brain barrier (BBB) permeability (P), we used laser scanning multiphoton microscopy with 800~850nm excitation wavelength to determine P of the cerebral microvessels in the rat brain 100–200 μm below the pia mater. After 1 mA tDCS treatment for 20 min, sodium fluorescein (MW 376), or FITC‐dextrans 20K and 70K in 1% bovine serum albumin mammalian Ringer was injected into the rat (SD, 250–300g) cerebral circulation via the ipsilateral carotid artery by a syringe pump at a constant rate of ~3 ml/min. P was determined from the rate of dye spreading images surround individual microvessels in the brain tissue. It was found that the relative increase in P is about 8‐fold for small solute, sodium fluorescein, ~35‐fold for both intermediate sized (Dex‐20k) and large (Dex‐70k) solutes, 10 min after 20 min 1 mA tDCS pretreatment. All of the increased permeability returns to the control after 20 min post treatment. Our results demonstrate that tDCS at a proper strength and duration indeed transiently increases the BBB permeability to different sized solutes to different levels. It can be used as a non‐invasive method for delivering therapeutic agents to brain through the BBB. Support or Funding Information Supported by NIH R21EB017510‐01.