Bioelectrical stimulation for the reduction of inflammation in inflammatory bowel disease
Open accessAbstract
Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis are the primary inflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs) affecting the gastrointestinal tract. The current therapy aims at decreasing inflammation and reducing symptoms. This typically requires immune suppression by steroids, thiopurines, methotrexate, or tumor necrosis factor inhibitors. Patients may be unreceptive to medical therapy, and some may discontinue the treatment due to adverse effects. Noninvasive, transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) is currently used as a treatment for depression and epilepsy, and it is being investigated for the treatment of conditions such as multiple sclerosis, migraines, and Alzheimer's disease. Recent studies have demonstrated the importance of splenic and vagus nerve functions in the inflammatory process through the production of certain cytokines. We hypothesize that using transcutaneous VNS via the auricular afferent branch could achieve a selective anti-inflammatory effect on the intestinal wall. This review examines the possibility of using vagal stimulators as a therapy for IBD. This could open the door to novel treatments for numerous vagally mediated diseases characterized by poor responses to current therapies.
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These data argue for an anti-inflammatory role of the vagus nerve and provide potential therapeutic applications for patients with IBDs.
“These data argue for an anti-inflammatory role of the vagus nerve and provide potential therapeutic applications for patients with IBDs (18, 195, 196).”
From Vagus Nerve as Modulator of the Brain–Gut Axis in Psychiatric and Inflammatory Disorders (2018) · cites this paper as [196]
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- Authors
- Marshall, R., Taylor, I., Lahr, C., Abell, T. L., Espinoza, I., Gupta, N. K., & Gomez, C. R.
- Affiliations
- University of Mississippi Medical Center (US)
- University of Louisville (US)
- Cancer Institute, University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson, MS, USA.
- Corresponding author
- Marshall, Ryan
- Venue
- Clinical Medicine Insights: Gastroenterology
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2015-01
- Volume
- 8
- Pages
- CGast.S31779
- ISSN
- 1178-119X (ISSN-L)
- 1179-5522
- PMC
- PMC4671545
- OpenAlex
- W2184946531
- Cited by
- 29
- References
- 36
- Citations by year
- 2025: 5 · 2024: 1 · 2022: 2 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 5 · 2019: 6 · 2018: 2 · 2017: 2 · 2016: 3
- FWCI
- 1.25
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Locations
- Clinical Medicine Insights Gastroenterology (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- 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
- bioelectric stimulation, vagus nerve stimulation, inflammatory bowel disease, Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, anti-inflammatory therapy, splenic nerve, cytokines, non-invasive neuromodulation
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