ReviewBritish journal of pharmacology2007
The alpha7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor as a pharmacological target for inflammation.
Review in British journal of pharmacology, 2007. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 302 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
302 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 623 citations in OpenAlex.
- The Key Drivers of Brain Injury by Systemic Inflammatory Responses after Sepsis: Microglia and Neuroinflammation.Molecular neurobiology · 2023Pooled it
- CNS-Spleen Axis - a Close Interplay in Mediating Inflammatory Responses in Burn Patients and a Key to Novel Burn Therapeutics.Frontiers in immunology · 2021Pooled it
- Systematic review of the prevalence of current smoking among hospitalized COVID-19 patients in China: could nicotine be a therapeutic option?Internal and emergency medicine · 2020Pooled it
- Efficacy of higher-dose levamisole in maintaining remission in steroid-dependant nephrotic syndrome.Pediatric nephrology (Berlin, Germany) · 2017Trial
- A critical role for α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor signaling in myeloid lineage cells in chronic neuropathic and inflammatory pain responses.The journal of pain · 2026Article
- Activation of α7nAChR prevents maladaptive right ventricular remodeling via inhibiting the recruitment of CCR2Respiratory research · 2026Article
- Neuro-Immune Crosstalk: Molecular Mechanisms, Biological Functions, Diseases, and Therapeutic Targets.MedComm · 2026Review
- Qingre Liangxue Acupuncture for Psoriasis: A Cholinergic Neuroimmune Framework.International journal of general medicine · 2026Review
- Common metabolic, environmental, and molecular mechanisms underlying neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative disorders.Frontiers in neurology · 2026Review
- Cholinergic regulation of neuroinflammation: linking microglia, immunometabolism, and neuromodulation.Frontiers in immunology · 2026Review
- Putative α7-selective ligands interact with α9-containing nicotinic acetylcholine receptors and modulate immune functions of human mononuclear phagocytes.Frontiers in immunology · 2026Article
- Integrative Neuroimmune Role of the Parasympathetic Nervous System, Vagus Nerve and Gut Microbiota in Stress Modulation: A Narrative Review.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
- Effects of Nicotine on SH-SY5Y Cells: An NMR-Based Metabolomic Study.Metabolites · 2025Article
- Article
- Nicotine and neurocognition in HIV: Translational challenges and therapeutic potential.Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews · 2025Review
- The cholinergic drug galantamine ameliorates acute and subacute peripheral and brain manifestations of acute respiratory distress syndrome in mice.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Cellular and Molecular Mechanisms Explaining the Link Between Inflammatory Bowel Disease and Heart Failure.Cells · 2025Review
- Stereoisomers of Chiral Methyl-Substituted Symmetric and Asymmetric Aryl Piperazinium Compounds Exhibit Distinct Selectivity for α9 and α7 Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptors.ACS chemical neuroscience · 2025Article
- Vagal impairment and cardiovascular risk in those with zero to low coronary artery calcification scores: the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis.American journal of physiology. Heart and circulatory physiology · 2025Article
- Neuronal and Glial α7 Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptors: Role in Alzheimer's Disease Pathophysiology.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
242 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors at 2 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The physiological regulation of the immune system encompasses comprehensive anti-inflammatory mechanisms that can be harnessed for the treatment of infectious and inflammatory disorders. Recent studies indicate that the vagal nerve, involved in control of heart rate, hormone secretion and gastrointestinal motility, is also an immunomodulator. In experimental models of inflammatory diseases, vagal nerve stimulation attenuates the production of proinflammatory cytokines and inhibits the inflammatory process. Acetylcholine, the principal neurotransmitter of the vagal nerve, controls immune cell functions via the alpha7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (alpha7nAChR). From a pharmacological perspective, nicotinic agonists are more efficient than acetylcholine at inhibiting the inflammatory signaling and the production of proinflammatory cytokines. This 'nicotinic anti-inflammatory pathway' may have clinical implications as treatment with nicotinic agonists can modulate the production of proinflammatory cytokines from immune cells. Nicotine has been tested in clinical trials as a treatment for inflammatory diseases such as ulcerative colitis, but the therapeutic potential of this mechanism is limited by the collateral toxicity of nicotine. Here, we review the recent advances that support the design of more specific receptor-selective nicotinic agonists that have anti-inflammatory effects while eluding its collateral toxicity.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.