ReviewFrontiers in neuroscience2018
The Vagus Nerve at the Interface of the Microbiota-Gut-Brain Axis.
Review in Frontiers in neuroscience, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to 4 registered trials, which are not on this map. Cited by 740 papers, 8 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.
Efficacy and Mechanism of Transcutaneous Vagus Nerve Stimulation in the Treatment of Generalized Anxiety Disorder
Effect of Ear Vagus Nerve Stimulator on Symptom Improvement and Intestinal Microbiome in Patients With Irritable Bowel
The Acute Effects of Controlled Breathing Exercises and Music Therapy on the Autonomic Nervous System in Anxious Individuals: A Randomized Controlled Study
VIBRANT-IBD: Pilot fMRI Study on Neural Correlates of Non-Invasive Vagus Nerve Stimulation in Patients With Inflammatory Bowel Disease in Remission
Who cites it
740 citing papers in PubMed, 8 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 1,212 citations in OpenAlex.
- Pooled it
- Transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation and exercise-induced autonomic regulation: a systematic review.Clinical autonomic research : official journal of the Clinical Autonomic Research Society · 2026Pooled it
- Gut Microbiota Dysbiosis and Neuroinflammation in Alzheimer's Disease: a Systematic Review of Mechanistic Insights.Molecular neurobiology · 2026Pooled it
- Sleep and endocrine effects of acupuncture for insomnia: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.Frontiers in medicine · 2026Pooled it
- The correlation and gut microbial characteristics in the whole spectrum of Alzheimer's disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2026Pooled it
- Neurobiological effects of microbial treatments within psychiatry: a systematic review.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Pooled it
- The lung-gut-brain axis in non-small-cell lung cancer: a narrative review with a systematic search of three signaling pathways.Frontiers in immunology · 2026Pooled it
- Medication Causes and Treatment of Delirium in Patients With and Without Dementia.Brain and behavior · 2025Pooled it
- The effect of remote ischemic preconditioning on postoperative gastrointestinal function recovery in patients undergoing gynecological laparoscopic surgery: a prospective randomized controlled trial.BMC women's health · 2026Trial
- Protocol of the randomized double blind sham controlled AddVNS study of transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation mechanisms in depression.Scientific reports · 2026Trial
- Effects of heat-treatedFrontiers in nutrition · 2026Trial
- Effects of taVNS on physiological responses and cognitive performance during a mental stressor.Cognitive, affective & behavioral neuroscience · 2025Trial
- Multi-species probiotic supplement enhances vagal nerve function - results of a randomized controlled trial in patients with depression and healthy controls.Gut microbes · 2025Trial
- Enteric-colonizedGut microbes · 2026Article
- Review
- Human brain matters: Navigating the neuropathology of COVID-19.Brain pathology (Zurich, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Fecal Microbiota Transplantation BeyondJournal of Korean medical science · 2026Review
- The microbiota-proteostasis axis: implications in neurodegenerative diseases.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2026Review
- Simulating vagus nerve stimulation through Basti therapy: A novel approach to anti-inflammatory treatment in Parkinson's disease model.Journal of Ayurveda and integrative medicine · 2026Review
- The Microbiome in Glioblastoma: Mechanisms, Tumor-Immune Interactions, and Translational Perspectives.MicrobiologyOpen · 2026Review
680 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
3 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The microbiota, the gut, and the brain communicate through the microbiota-gut-brain axis in a bidirectional way that involves the autonomic nervous system. The vagus nerve (VN), the principal component of the parasympathetic nervous system, is a mixed nerve composed of 80% afferent and 20% efferent fibers. The VN, because of its role in interoceptive awareness, is able to sense the microbiota metabolites through its afferents, to transfer this gut information to the central nervous system where it is integrated in the central autonomic network, and then to generate an adapted or inappropriate response. A cholinergic anti-inflammatory pathway has been described through VN's fibers, which is able to dampen peripheral inflammation and to decrease intestinal permeability, thus very probably modulating microbiota composition. Stress inhibits the VN and has deleterious effects on the gastrointestinal tract and on the microbiota, and is involved in the pathophysiology of gastrointestinal disorders such as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) which are both characterized by a dysbiosis. A low vagal tone has been described in IBD and IBS patients thus favoring peripheral inflammation. Targeting the VN, for example through VN stimulation which has anti-inflammatory properties, would be of interest to restore homeostasis in the microbiota-gut-brain axis.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
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.