ArticleJournal of pain research2020
Vagus Nerve Stimulation Transiently Mitigates Chemotherapy-Induced Peripheral Neuropathy in Rats.
Article in Journal of pain research, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
10 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 12 citations in OpenAlex.
- Preclinical research in paclitaxel-induced neuropathic pain: a systematic review.Frontiers in veterinary science · 2023Pooled it
- Efficacy of transauricular vagus nerve stimulation for the treatment of chemotherapy-induced painful peripheral neuropathy: a randomized controlled exploratory study.Neurological sciences : official journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology · 2024Trial
- A Brainstem Pathway for Vagal Analgesia: A Critical Role of Local Inhibition in the cNTS.Neuroscience bulletin · 2026Article
- Mechanism-based management of taxane-induced neuropathic pain in breast cancer survivors: a critical review.Frontiers in pain research (Lausanne, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- [Research progress on vagus nerve stimulation in the treatment of chronic pain].Zhong nan da xue xue bao. Yi xue ban = Journal of Central South University. Medical sciences · 2025Review
- Analgesic effects of transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation on partial sciatic nerve ligation-induced neuropathic pain in mice via serotonergic pathways.Molecular brain · 2025Article
- Analgesic Effect of Auricular Vagus Nerve Stimulation on Oxaliplatin-induced Peripheral Neuropathic Pain in a Rodent Model.Experimental neurobiology · 2024Article
- Feasibility of trancutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation in Black and Hispanic/Latino people with peripheral neuropathy.Frontiers in pain research (Lausanne, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Putative role of non-invasive vagus nerve stimulation in cancer pathology and immunotherapy: Can this be a hidden treasure, especially for the elderly?Cancer medicine · 2023Review
- Neuroimmunomodulation of vagus nerve stimulation and the therapeutic implications.Frontiers in aging neuroscience · 2023Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundChemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy is a severe side effect of chemotherapeutic agents. Vagus nerve stimulation attenuates neuroinflammation by activating the cholinergic anti-inflammatory pathway and thus may attenuate CIPN.
methodsAdult male Sprague-Dawley rats received intraperitoneal paclitaxel injection (2 mg/kg) every other day for a total of 4 injections. Three weeks later, the left cervical vagus nerve was exposed under general anesthesia, and the rats randomly received 20-min stimulation (1 V, 2 ms, 5 Hz, 30 s ON/5 min OFF) or sham stimulation. Heat and mechanical pain sensitivity was evaluated using Hargreaves and von Frey tests before and after treatment (n=12 per group per time point). Additionally, rats receiving paclitaxel or saline but no surgery were included. Expression of representative pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines in dorsal root ganglia was assessed by Western blotting assays and immunohistochemistry.
resultsPaclitaxel significantly reduced the sensitivity for heat (withdrawal latency: paclitaxel 6.16 ± 0.54 s vs saline 9.93 ± 0.78 s, p<0.001) and mechanical pain (withdrawal frequency: paclitaxel 32.22 ± 15.51% vs saline 3.33 ± 4.92%, p<0.001). Compared with sham-stimulated rats, rats receiving vagus nerve stimulation had significantly higher sensitivity for heat (withdrawal latency: VNS 10.28 ± 1.15 s vs sham 6.27 ± 0.56 s, p<0.001) and mechanical pain (withdrawal frequency: VNS 10.00 ± 9.54% vs Sham 31.67 ± 18.99%, p=0.003) on +1 day, but not 7 days later (withdrawal latency: VNS 6.97 ± 1.13 s vs Sham 6.23 ± 0.79 s, p=0.080; withdrawal frequency: VNS 21.67 ± 11.93% vs Sham 23.33 ± 7.79%, p=0.689). Western blotting assays and immunohistochemistry revealed that interleukin-10 level was elevated in the dorsal root ganglia of rats receiving vagus nerve stimulation while no apparent changes in NF-κB or TNF-α levels were observed.
conclusionVagus nerve stimulation could transiently attenuate paclitaxel-induced hyperalgesia in rats. Future studies are needed to investigate whether stimulation with different protocols could achieve durable effects.
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