Mammalian Optic Nerve Regeneration Following the Application of Electric Fields

Previous studies have shown that the application of electric fields to the damaged mammalian nervous system is efficacious in promoting regeneration of peripheral nervous system axons. The present experiments were undertaken to determine whether exogenously applied electric fields can induce regenerative responses in the damaged mammalian central nervous system (CNS). In these studies, chronically delivered direct current was applied to the optic nerve, orienting the cathode distal to the lesion site. Histologic analyses at 3 weeks revealed that the damaged optic nerve did exhibit a regenerative response following treatment. We believe that this represents the first report of regenerative effects on the mammalian visual system using chronic DC electric fields, and we suggest that such galvanic treatment may be used alone or as an adjunct to promoting regeneration of the injured mammalian central nervous system.