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MECHANISMS OF ACTION
Noted Mechanisms of Action for the Use of Microcurrent in Treating AMD:
- Effects on the mitochondrial Krebs cycle increase production of intracellular adenosine triphosphate. Transmembrane transport through voltage-gated ion channels is dependent on adenosine triphosphate. Voltage-gated ion channels may be positively influenced by the presence of external current flow, enabling the configuration change that precedes ion flow.19
- Influence of extremely low-frequency electromagnetic fields has been demonstrated to have beneficial and therapeutic effects on voltage-gated calcium channels via influence on the G-protein channel through the nitric oxide-cyclic GMP–protein kinase pathway.25
- Alteration in gene expression, such as upregulation of Bcl-2, ciliary neurotrophic factor, and brain-derived neurotrophic factor; downregulation of Bax; suppression or inhibition of inflammatory factors, such as IL-1β and TNF-α; and transcriptome changes in 490 genes have been identified, including neuroprotective genes, such as Bax or those that are part of the TNF family. Additionally, upregulation of intrinsic insulin-like growth factor-1 (Mueller cell activation and diffusion into the inner retina) was found.9,10
- Increase in choroidal vessel blood flow in normal human subjects, measured in ten healthy subjects following TES using a laser speckle flowgraphy, showed that there was statistically significant increase in blood flow in the macular zone, which may account for the improvements in patients with ischemia.26
25. Pall M. Electromagnetic fields act via activation of voltage-gated calcium channels to produce beneficial or adverse effects. J Cell Mol Med. 2013;17:958–965. doi: 10.1111/jcmm.12088. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
9. Zhou WT, Ni YQ, Jin ZB, et al. Electrical stimulation ameliorates light-induced photoreceptor degeneration in vitro via suppressing the proinflammatory effect of microglia and enhancing the neurotrophic potential of Müller cells. Exp Neurol. 2012;238:192–208. doi: 10.1016/j.expneurol.2012.08.029. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
10. Willmann G, Schäferhoff K, Fischer MD, et al. Gene expression profiling of the retina after transcorneal electrical stimulation in wild-type Brown Norway rats. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2011;52:7529–7537. doi: 10.1167/iovs.11-7838. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
26. Kurimoto T, Oono S, Oku H, et al. Transcorneal electrical stimulation increases chorioretinal blood flow in normal human subjects. Clin Ophthalmol. 2010;4:1441–1446. doi: 10.2147/OPTH.S14573. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
Cells. 2020 Mar 23;9(3): 781. doi: 10.3390/cells9030781; PMCID: PMC7140850
Noninvasive Electrical Stimulation Improves Photoreceptor Survival and Retinal Function in Mice with Inherited Photoreceptor Degeneration.
Invest Ophthalmol Vis. Sci. 2020 Apr 9;61(4):5 doi: 10.1167/iovs.61.4.5: PMID: 32271885; PMCID: PMC7401948
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