Abstract
Transcranial modulation of primary cilia may provide new opportunities in the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases. This study investigates the effect of non-invasive low-intensity pulsed ultrasound (LIPUS) stimulation on primary cilia of rat hippocampal neurons. Three hours of LIPUS stimulation significantly reduced the incidence rate and length of cilia on cultured neurons (p < 0.01). Similarly, increasing the duration and intensity of LIPUS stimulation decreased the incidence and length of cilia. LIPUS stimulation improved c-fos expression when it was delivered to CA1 of the intact hippocampus of rats. And prolonged LIPUS stimulation (frequency: 0.5 MHz, pulse repetition frequency: 500 Hz, duty cycle: 5%, Ispta: 255 mW/cm2, 10 min/d, 10 d) caused a statistically significant reduction in the incidence rate (p < 0.05) and length of primary cilia (p < 0.01) of neurons in rat CA1 hippocampus. These results indicate the promising potential of LIPUS stimulation in the treatment of primary cilium-related brain diseases.