Protection of high-frequency low-intensity pulsed electric fields and BDNF for SH-SY5Y cells against hydrogen peroxide-induced cell damage

Neurodegenerative diseases pose a significant global health threat. In particular, Alzheimer’s disease, the most common type causing dementia, remains an incurable disease. Alzheimer’s disease is thought to be associated with an imbalance of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in neurons, and scientists considered ROS modulation as a promising strategy for novel remedies. In the study, human neural cell line SH-SY5Y was used in probing the effect of combining non-invasive high-frequency low-intensity pulsed electric field (H-LIPEF) and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in protection against hydrogen peroxide (H2O2)-induced neuron damage. Our result finds that the combination approach has intensified the neuroprotective effect significantly, perhaps due to H-LIPEF and BDNF synergistically increasing the expression level of the phosphorylated epidermal growth factor receptor (p-EGFR), which induces the survival-related mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPK) proteins. The study confirmed the activation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) and the downstream pro-survival and antioxidant proteins as the mechanism underlying neuron protection. These findings highlighted the potential of H-LIPEF combined with BDNF in the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases. Furthermore, BDNF-mimetic drugs combining with non-invasive H-LIPEF to patients is a promising approach worthy of further research. This points to strategies for selecting drugs to cooperate with electric fields in treating neurodegenerative disorders.