Chronic vagus nerve stimulation in Crohn's disease: a 6‐month follow‐up pilot study
Abstract
The vagus nerve (VN) is a link between the brain and the gut. The VN is a mixed nerve with anti-inflammatory properties through the activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis by its afferents and by activating the cholinergic anti-inflammatory pathway through its efferents. We have previously shown that VN stimulation (VNS) improves colitis in rats and that the vagal tone is blunted in Crohn's disease (CD) patients. We thus performed a pilot study of chronic VNS in patients with active CD. Seven patients under VNS were followed up for 6 months with a primary endpoint to induce clinical remission and a secondary endpoint to induce biological (CRP and/or fecal calprotectin) and endoscopic remission and to restore vagal tone (heart rate variability). Vagus nerve stimulation was feasible and well-tolerated in all patients. Among the seven patients, two were removed from the study at 3 months for clinical worsening and five evolved toward clinical, biological, and endoscopic remission with a restored vagal tone. These results provide the first evidence that VNS is feasible and appears as an effective tool in the treatment of active CD.
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In humans, VNS is used for the treatment of refractory depression, chronic pain, Crohn's disease, and certain epilepsies.
“In humans, VNS is used for the treatment of refractory depression (Breit et al., 2018) in addition to chronic pain (Chakravarthy et al., 2015;Ren et al., 1989) Crohn's disease (Bonaz et al., 2016), and certain epilepsies (Krahl, 2012;Penry and Dean, 1990).”
From The Microbiota-Gut-Brain Axis (2019) · cites this paper as Bonaz et al., 2016
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- Authors
- Bonaz, B., Sinniger, V., Hoffmann, D., Clarençon, D., Mathieu, N., Dantzer, C., Vercueil, L., Picq, C., Trocmé, C., Faure, P., Cracowski, J., & Pellissier, S.
- Affiliations
- Inserm (FR)
- Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Grenoble (FR)
- Université Savoie Mont Blanc (FR)
- Stress and Neuro‐Digestive Interactions Inserm U1216 Institute of Neurosciences University Grenoble Alpes Grenoble France
- Corresponding author
- Bonaz, B.
- Venue
- Neurogastroenterology & Motility
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2016-02-27
- Volume
- 28
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 948-953
- ISSN
- 1350-1925 (ISSN-L)
- 1365-2982
- OpenAlex
- W2285989687
- Cited by
- 492
- References
- 6
- Citations by year
- 2026: 26 · 2025: 42 · 2024: 46 · 2023: 38 · 2022: 54 · 2021: 66 · 2020: 61 · 2019: 52 · 2018: 58 · 2017: 30 · 2016: 16 · 2012: 1
- FWCI
- 28.49
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Neurogastroenterology & Motility (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- HAL (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Neurology › Vagus Nerve Stimulation Research
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Inflammatory Bowel Disease
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Gastroenterology › Gastrointestinal motility and disorders
- Keywords
- vagus nerve stimulation, Crohn's disease, vagal tone, heart rate variability, cholinergic anti-inflammatory pathway, hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, clinical remission, endoscopic remission, fecal calprotectin, C-reactive protein, gut-brain axis, neuromodulation
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Crohn Disease, Female, Follow-Up Studies, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Pilot Projects, Vagus Nerve Stimulation, Young Adult
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