ArticleFrontiers in behavioral neuroscience2023
Transcranial direct current stimulation regulates phenotypic transformation of microglia to relieve neuropathic pain induced by spinal cord injury.
Article in Frontiers in behavioral neuroscience, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to 2 registered trials, which are not on this map. Cited by 11 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Perioperative Use of Dexmedetomidine-esketamine Combination and Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation for Prevention of Neurocognitive Complications in Older Patients After Non-cardiac Surgery: a 2×2 Factorial Trial
Long-term Follow-up of Perioperative Dexmedetomidine-esketamine Combination and Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation for Prevention of Neurocognitive Complications in Older Patients After Non-cardiac Surgery
Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 18 citations in OpenAlex.
- Role of Supraspinal Neuroinflammation in Chronic Pain After Experimental Spinal Cord Injury-A Systematic Review.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Pooled it
- Relationship of immune-inflammatory pathway and stress-induced depression with neural regeneration.Neural regeneration research · 2026Article
- Article
- The potential role of transcranial direct current stimulation in experimental ischemic stroke in adult male albino rats.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- VKORC1L1 Downregulation Induced Vitamin K Cycle Disorder Exacerbates Neuronal Ferroptosis After Spinal Cord Injury.Molecular neurobiology · 2026Article
- Microglia Polarization: A Key Regulatory Mechanism of Neuropathic Pain.Journal of pain research · 2026Review
- Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation Targeting the Primary Motor Cortex Suppresses Activity in the Ventrolateral Periaqueductal Gray and Alleviates Chronic Pain in a Rat Model of Knee Osteoarthritis.Journal of pain research · 2026Article
- Tibolone Improves Motor Recovery and Regulates Neuroinflammation and Gliosis in a Model of Traumatic Spinal Cord Injury.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Article
- Review
- Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation Attenuates the Chronic Pain of Osteoarthritis in Rats via Reducing NMDAR2B Expressions in the Spinal Cord.Journal of musculoskeletal & neuronal interactions · 2023Article
- Neuroprotective effects of interleukin 10 in spinal cord injury.Frontiers in molecular neuroscience · 2023Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
7 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Objective: Neuropathic pain is a common complication after spinal cord injury (SCI). Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) has been confirmed to be effective in relieving neuropathic pain in patients with SCI. The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of tDCS on neuropathic pain induced by SCI and its underlying mechanism. Materials and methods: The SCI model was induced by a clip-compression injury and tDCS stimulation was performed for two courses (5 days/each). The motor function was evaluated by Basso-Beattie-Bresnahan (BBB) score, and the thermal withdrawal threshold was evaluated by the thermal radiation method. The effects of tDCS on the cerebral cortex, thalamus, midbrain, and medulla were detected by the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and immunofluorescence. Results: The results showed that SCI reduced the thermal withdrawal threshold and increased the concentration of inflammatory cytokines in the cortex, thalamus, midbrain, and medulla, including the tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin-1β (IL-1β), and interleukin-6 (IL-6). In addition, the activation of microglia and the proportion of M1 phenotypic polarization increased significantly in the ventral posterolateral (VPL), ventral tegmental (VTA), and periaqueductal gray (PAG) regions after SCI. After tDCS treatment, the thermal withdrawal threshold and motor function of SCI rats were significantly improved compared to the vehicle group. Meanwhile, tDCS effectively reduced the concentration of pro-inflammatory cytokines in the cortex, thalamus, midbrain, and medulla and increased the concentration of anti-inflammatory cytokines interleukin-10 (IL-10) in the thalamus. In addition, tDCS reduced the proportion of the M1 phenotype of microglia in VPL, VTA, and PAG regions and increase the proportion of the M2 phenotype. Conclusion: The results suggest that tDCS can effectively relieve SCI-induced neuropathic pain. Its mechanism may be related to regulating the inflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines in corresponding brain regions
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.