Effects of blood flow restriction combined with visual feedback training on lower limb function and the serum levels of BDNF and VEGF in patients with stroke.

Overview

Authors: Hai Jiang¹, Chengzhuo Yang¹, Pan Wang¹, Mei Yu¹, Yijun Wang¹, Cuiting Wang¹, Deng Xiao¹

ORCID iDs: Deng Xiao

Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, The Affiliated Rehabilitation Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China

Institutions: Chongqing Medical University (China)

Journal: PloS one, volume 21, issue 9, article e0358740

Dates: received 12 June 2026; accepted 2 September 2026; published online 28 September 2026

Type: Research article · Language: English

License: CC BY

Identifiers: DOI 10.1371/journal.pone.0358740 · PMID 42804459 · PMCID PMC13618907 · OpenAlex W7214652586

Open access: gold, a free copy (OpenAlex)

Status: data only (how the code is found and verified)

Categories: other (modality), human (organism), stroke (population), clinical / translational (subfield)

Methods: Statistics

MeSH: Blood Flow Restriction Therapy*, Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor*, Feedback, Sensory*, Lower Extremity*, Stroke*, Stroke Rehabilitation*, Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A*, Aged, Female, Humans, Male, Middle Aged (* major topic)

Journal subjects: Medicine and Health Sciences, Medical Conditions, Cerebrovascular Diseases, Stroke, Neurology, Vascular Medicine, Biology and Life Sciences, Anatomy, Body Limbs, Geriatrics, Balance and Falls, Public and Occupational Health, Physical Activity, Physical Fitness, Exercise, Strength Training, Sports and Exercise Medicine, Sports Science, Physiology, Biological Locomotion, Walking, Biomechanics, Musculoskeletal Mechanics, Muscle Physiology, Health Care, Quality of Life, Activities of Daily Living, Muscle Functions

Topic: Neurological Disease Mechanisms and Treatments (Neurology, Neuroscience), according to OpenAlex

Funding: In-hospital Scientific Research Fund Project of Rehabilitation Hospital of Chongqing Medical University (No.: RHCQMU2025006); Project of Shizhu Tujia Autonomous County Science and Technology Bureau (No.: Skj2025006)

Citations: not cited yet (Europe PMC); 54 references in the paper

Abstract

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the effects of blood flow restriction training (BFRT) combined with visual feedback training (VFT) on lower limb function and serum levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in patients with stroke.

Methods: Forty patients with stroke who were hospitalized at the Rehabilitation Hospital of Chongqing Medical University between July 2025 and May 2026 were enrolled and randomly assigned to either the VFT group (control group) or the BFRT combined with VFT group (experimental group). The control group received VFT in addition to conventional rehabilitation, whereas the experimental group received BFRT combined with VFT on the basis of conventional rehabilitation. After 4 weeks of treatment, manual muscle testing (MMT), the Fugl-Meyer Assessment-Lower Extremity (FMA-LE), the Timed Up and Go Test (TUGT), the Modified Barthel Index (MBI), the Functional Ambulation Category (FAC), the Pro-Kin balance test, and serum levels of BDNF and VEGF were compared between the two groups.

Results: Compared with baseline, MMT, FMA-LE, MBI, and FAC scores significantly increased in both groups after 4 weeks of treatment (P < 0.05), with greater improvements observed in the experimental group than in the control group (P < 0.05). TUGT performance also improved significantly in both groups compared with baseline (P < 0.05), with the experimental group demonstrating significantly greater improvement than the control group (P < 0.05). Following treatment, Pro-Kin balance test performance improved significantly in both groups (P < 0.05), and the experimental group achieved better results than the control group (P < 0.05). Serum levels of BDNF and VEGF increased significantly in both groups after the intervention (P < 0.05), with significantly greater increases observed in the experimental group (P < 0.05).

Conclusion: BFRT combined with VFT can significantly improve balance, lower limb function, and activities of daily living in patients with stroke. It also effectively increases serum levels of BDNF and VEGF, thereby promoting neurovascular plasticity.

Reproduced under the paper's license (CC BY), from the paper cited above.

Code

The paper links to its data and to no code of its authors: see the Data section.

Tracing map

A tracing map links a paper to the code its authors published: this paper has none, so it has no map.

Data

Datasets cited

figshare:33184131, at figshare; found in “Data Availability”

Data Availability

All dataset files are available from the Figshare at: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.33184131.

Reproduced under the paper's license (CC BY), from the paper cited above.

Versions

The history of this record: each version stored by the harvester or made by a correction of its authors or of the maintainers of its code, and what changed in its facts. The texts of the paper (its abstract, its availability statements) are not part of it; versions that changed only those are not listed.

Version 1, 30 September 2026: the first record

Recorded: type, language, journal, volume, issue, pages, dates, 7 authors, 12 MeSH terms, 2 funders, 54 references.

Cite

This paper

Jiang, H., Yang, C., Wang, P., Yu, M., Wang, Y., Wang, C., & Xiao, D. (2026). Effects of blood flow restriction combined with visual feedback training on lower limb function and the serum levels of BDNF and VEGF in patients with stroke. PloS one, 21(9), e0358740. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0358740

BibTeX

@article{jiang2026effects, author = {Jiang, Hai and Yang, Chengzhuo and Wang, Pan and Yu, Mei and Wang, Yijun and Wang, Cuiting and Xiao, Deng}, title = {{Effects of blood flow restriction combined with visual feedback training on lower limb function and the serum levels of BDNF and VEGF in patients with stroke}}, journal = {PloS one}, year = {2026}, month = sep, volume = {21}, number = {9}, pages = {e0358740}, publisher = {PLOS}, issn = {1932-6203}, doi = {10.1371/journal.pone.0358740}, url = {https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0358740}, pmid = {42804459}, pmcid = {PMC13618907} }

RIS

TY - JOUR AU - Jiang, Hai AU - Yang, Chengzhuo AU - Wang, Pan AU - Yu, Mei AU - Wang, Yijun AU - Wang, Cuiting AU - Xiao, Deng TI - Effects of blood flow restriction combined with visual feedback training on lower limb function and the serum levels of BDNF and VEGF in patients with stroke T2 - PloS one J2 - PLoS One PY - 2026 DA - 2026/09/28 VL - 21 IS - 9 SP - e0358740 SN - 1932-6203 PB - PLOS DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0358740 UR - https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0358740 LA - en ER -

CSL-JSON

{ "id": "10.1371/journal.pone.0358740", "type": "article-journal", "title": "Effects of blood flow restriction combined with visual feedback training on lower limb function and the serum levels of BDNF and VEGF in patients with stroke", "container-title": "PloS one", "author": [ { "family": "Jiang", "given": "Hai" }, { "family": "Yang", "given": "Chengzhuo" }, { "family": "Wang", "given": "Pan" }, { "family": "Yu", "given": "Mei" }, { "family": "Wang", "given": "Yijun" }, { "family": "Wang", "given": "Cuiting" }, { "family": "Xiao", "given": "Deng" } ], "container-title-short": "PLoS One", "volume": "21", "issue": "9", "page": "e0358740", "DOI": "10.1371/journal.pone.0358740", "PMID": "42804459", "PMCID": "PMC13618907", "ISSN": "1932-6203", "publisher": "PLOS", "URL": "https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0358740", "language": "en", "issued": { "date-parts": [ [ 2026, 9, 28 ] ] } }

Contribute

The authors of this paper can claim it, correct its record and validate its tracing map, and the maintainers of its code (its owner, or a public member of its organization) correct what it says of their repository; anyone signed in can ask for its removal. Every request goes to OSCR's own machine, which answers it; your account page follows them.

Sign in with ORCID to claim this paper as one of its authors, correct its record or validate its tracing map: when the paper's metadata lists your ORCID iD, you are recognized at once. Maintainers of its code: sign in with GitHub, then claim the repository on your account page.

Request its removal

To ask OSCR to remove this record, the copies of its authors' scripts or its tracing map, use the removal request page: signed in, you say who you are, what to remove and why, then review and confirm the request. Published rules decide every request (how).

Discussion, reproductions, activity

Discussion: code errors and mismatches between the code and the paper about this paper and its code, from readers and its authors, beside the paper and its tracing map.

Reproductions: reports from readers who ran the authors' code and did not get the paper's result, what they ran, with which environment, commit and data.

Activity: what happens around this paper: new versions of its record, its map's validation, discussions and reproductions. It opens with sign-in.