Effects of tDCS on glutamatergic pathways in epilepsy: neuroprotective and therapeutic potential

Epilepsy is a chronic neurological disease characterized by recurrent seizures caused by abnormal electrical activity in the brain. The aim of our study was to investigate the effect of tDCS on oxidative stress, Ca2+, glutamate, GABA, AMPAR1, and NMDAR1 levels in kindling-induced epilepsy model. Behavioral tests evaluated motor and cognitive functions, while assessing oxidative stress, Ca2+, glutamate, GABA, AMPAR1, and NMDAR1 levels in hippocampal tissue. tDCS stimulation therapy demonstrates a neuroprotective effect on motor and cognitive function postepilepsy. Our study reveals an increase in TOC, Ca2+, glutamate, GABA, AMPAR1, and NMDAR1 levels and a decline in total antioxidant capacity (TAC) following PTZ-induced seizures. However, tDCS treatment led to a significant decrease of Ca2+, total oxidant capacity (TOC), glutamate, GABA, AMPAR1, and NMDAR1 levels in the epilepsy cohorts, while simultaneously causing a spike in TAC levels. The study’s results showed that tDCS treatment could have a therapeutic effect on oxidative stress, Ca2+, TOC, glutamate, GABA, AMPAR1, NMDAR1, and TAC in both acute and chronic kindling epilepsy models. © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2024.