Introduction: Deep brain stimulation (DBS) has shown to effectively treat several neurological and psychological disorders. Neurogenesis is a proposed mechanism through which it exerts its effects. This systematic review and meta-analysis aims to assess the effect of DBS on neurogenesis in animal models, and correlate it to functional and pathological outcomes.
Methods: PubMed, Scopus, Embase and Web of Science databases were searched on August 2024 for studies assessing the effect of DBS on neurogenesis in animal models. A total of 28 studies were included, divided into 10 healthy and 18 diseased models. Neurogenesis was assessed by different markers (BrdU, DCX, NeuN). Meta-analysis was done to assess the mean difference in BrdU+ cells between DBS and Sham groups. Also, some characteristics were assessed for each disease specifically.
Results: Six samples showed that a significant increase in number of progenitor cells (BrdU+ cells) was recorded in the dentate gyrus of healthy rodents following DBS (p < 0.001; I2 = 92%; MD [CI95%] = 502.19[457.01; 547.36]). Similarly, neurogenesis was increased in several disease models such as Alzheimer’s, Epilepsy, ischemic stroke, Parkinson, and Rett Syndrome. In ischemic stroke rat models, a significant decrease in infarct size was found following DBS (p < 0.001; I2 =89%; MD [CI95%] = -0.51 [-0.75; -0.27]). In Parkinson, stimulation of 130 Hz was found to have the greatest increase in neurogenesis in ipsilateral and contralateral subventricular zone and rostral migratory stream.
Conclusion : This systematic review demonstrates the positive effect of DBS on neurogenesis in normal and diseased animal models. This increase in neurogenesis may be correlated to functional and pathological outcomes.
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