Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2023 May 16:10:1154596.
doi: 10.3389/fvets.2023.1154596. eCollection 2023.

Accelerated high frequency rTMS induces time-dependent dopaminergic alterations: a DaTSCAN brain imaging study in healthy beagle dogs

Yangfeng Xu  1   2 , Kathelijne Peremans  2 , Sofie Salden  2 , Kurt Audenaert  1 , Andre Dobbeleir  2 , Ann Van Eeckhaut  3 , Dimitri De Bundel  3 , Jimmy H Saunders  2 , Chris Baeken  1   4   5
Affiliations

Accelerated high frequency rTMS induces time-dependent dopaminergic alterations: a DaTSCAN brain imaging study in healthy beagle dogs

Yangfeng Xu et al. Front Vet Sci. .

Abstract

Aim: The neurobiological effects of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation are believed to run in part through the dopaminergic system. Accelerated high frequency rTMS (aHF-rTMS), a new form of stimuli delivery, is currently being tested for its usefulness in treating human and canine mental disorders. However, the short-and long-term neurobiological effects are still unclear, including the effects on the dopaminergic system. In aHF-rTMS, multiple sessions are delivered within 1 day instead of one session per day, not only to accelerate the time to response but also to increase clinical efficacy. To gain more insight into the neurobiology of aHF-rTMS, we investigated whether applying five sessions in 1 day has direct and/or delayed effects on the dopamine transporter (DAT), and on dopamine metabolites of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) in beagles.

Materials and methods: Thirteen beagles were randomly divided into two groups: five active stimulation sessions (n = 9), and 5 sham stimulation sessions (n = 4). Using DaTSCAN, DAT binding indices (BI) were obtained at baseline, after 1 day, 1 month, and 3 months post stimulation. CSF samples were collected after each scan.

Results: Active aHF-rTMS significantly reduced striatal DAT BI 1 day post-active stimulation session (p < 0.01), and the effect lasted to 1 month (p < 0.01). No significant DAT BI change was found in sham group. No significant changes in dopamine metabolites of CSF were found.

Conclusion: Although no significant effects on CSF dopamine metabolites were observed, five sessions of active aHF-rTMS significantly decreased striatal DAT BI after 1 day and up to 1 month post stimulation, indicating immediate and delayed effects on the brain dopaminergic system. Our findings in healthy beagles further substantiate the assumption that (a)HF-rTMS affects the brain dopaminergic system and it may pave the way to apply (a)HF-rTMS treatment in behaviorally disturbed dogs.

Keywords: DaTscan SPECT; aHF-rTMS; behavior disorder; canine model; dopamine; dopamine transporter.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Experimental flowchart:① thirteen beagles were included, ② neuronavigation for rTMS target (red arrow), ③ aHF-rTMS sessions, ④ DaTSCAN image acquisition (transversal, sagittal and dorsal slices) + CSF sample collection, ⑤ data analysis.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Horizontal SPECT slice of the striatum with three ROIs (1: whole brain, 2: right striatum, 3: left striatum).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Line plot for active/sham aHF-rTMS groups at each individual time moment (T0: baseline, T1: 1 day, T2: 1 month, T3: 3 months). SEs are displayed as error bars.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Baeken C. Accelerated rTMS: a potential treatment to alleviate refractory depression. Front Psychol. (2018) 9:2017. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.02017, PMID: - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Baeken C, Brem A-K, Arns M, Brunoni AR, Filipčić I, Ganho-Ávila A, et al. . Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation treatment for depressive disorders: current knowledge and future directions. Curr Opin Psychiatry. (2019) 32:409–15. doi: 10.1097/YCO.0000000000000533, PMID: - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Lefaucheur J-P, André-Obadia N, Antal A, Ayache SS, Baeken C, Benninger DH, et al. . Evidence-based guidelines on the therapeutic use of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS). Clin Neurophysiol. (2014) 125:2150–206. doi: 10.1016/j.clinph.2014.05.021 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Lenth R, Singmann H, Love J, Buerkner P, Herve M. Emmeans: estimated marginal means, aka least-squares means. R package version. (2018), pp. 1–3.
    1. Charalambous M, Van Ham L, Broeckx BJ, Roggeman T, Carrette S, Vonck K, et al. . Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation in drug-resistant idiopathic epilepsy of dogs: a noninvasive neurostimulation technique. J Vet Intern Med. (2020) 34:2555–61. doi: 10.1111/jvim.15919, PMID: - DOI - PMC - PubMed