ReviewFrontiers in neuroscience2021
Therapeutic Potential of Vagus Nerve Stimulation for Inflammatory Bowel Diseases.
Review in Frontiers in neuroscience, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 95 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
95 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 143 citations in OpenAlex.
- Evaluation of the effectiveness of exercise therapy for irritable bowel syndrome: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in medicine · 2026Pooled it
- Natural antioxidant substances improve oxidative stress and alleviate ulcerative colitis: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.Scientific reports · 2025Pooled it
- A Review on the Vagus Nerve and Autonomic Nervous System During Fetal Development: Searching for Critical Windows.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2021Pooled it
- Vagus nerve stimulation and pulmonary outcomes: a scoping review of preclinical and clinical evidence.Clinical autonomic research : official journal of the Clinical Autonomic Research Society · 2026Article
- Context-Dependent Modulation of Epithelial Barrier Integrity and Intestinal Permeability by Transcutaneous Auricular Vagus Nerve Stimulation in Two Preclinical Models Mimicking Ulcerative Colitis and Crohn's Disease: A Descriptive Analysis.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Article
- Article
- tVNS Mitigates Neuroinflammation and Nociception in a Rodent LPS Endotoxemia Model.Clinical and translational science · 2026Article
- Transcutaneous Auricular Vagal Nerve Stimulation Against Fatigue Syndrome in Patients with Long COVID: Results of the Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Clinical Pilot Trial COVIVA.Neurology and therapy · 2026Article
- Transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation improves dysautonomia, post-traumatic stress disorder and cognitive impairment in long covid patients: a pilot study.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Review
- Current Perspectives on the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Pathogenesis of Microbiota and the Gut-Brain Axis, and Emerging Therapeutics.Biomedicines · 2026Review
- The Gut Microbiome in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis: Emerging Mechanisms and Therapeutic Potential.Molecular neurobiology · 2026Review
- Mechanisms of chronic abdominal pain in inflammatory bowel disease and implications for treatment.Nature reviews. Gastroenterology & hepatology · 2026Review
- Automated 3D segmentation of human vagus nerve fascicles and epineurium from micro-computed tomography images using anatomy-aware neural networks.Journal of neural engineering · 2026Article
- A Possible Role for the Vagus Nerve in Physical and Mental Health.Biomolecules · 2026Review
- Mental health and gut-brain crosstalk: implications for depression and Alzheimer's disease.Neuroscience applied · 2026Review
- Application of neuromodulation techniques in irritable bowel syndrome.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2026Review
- New music combination promotes neuroimmune homeostasis and stress relief.Frontiers in human neuroscience · 2026Article
- Noninvasive electrical neuromodulation involving vagus nerve mechanism for functional constipation and irritable bowel syndrome with constipation.Therapeutic advances in gastroenterology · 2026Review
- Neuroimmune Regulation for Acute Kidney Injury Therapy: Insights Along the Path From Bench to Bedside.Seminars in nephrology · 2026Review
35 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 vagus nerve is a mixed nerve, comprising 80% afferent fibers and 20% efferent fibers. It allows a bidirectional communication between the central nervous system and the digestive tract. It has a dual anti-inflammatory properties via activation of the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal axis, by its afferents, but also through a vago-vagal inflammatory reflex involving an afferent (vagal) and an efferent (vagal) arm, called the cholinergic anti-inflammatory pathway. Indeed, the release of acetylcholine at the end of its efferent fibers is able to inhibit the release of tumor necrosis factor (TNF) alpha by macrophages via an interneuron of the enteric nervous system synapsing between the efferent vagal endings and the macrophages and releasing acetylcholine. The vagus nerve also synapses with the splenic sympathetic nerve to inhibit the release of TNF-alpha by splenic macrophages. It can also activate the spinal sympathetic system after central integration of its afferents. This anti-TNF-alpha effect of the vagus nerve can be used in the treatment of chronic inflammatory bowel diseases, represented by Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis where this cytokine plays a key role. Bioelectronic medicine, via vagus nerve stimulation, may have an interest in this non-drug therapeutic approach as an alternative to conventional anti-TNF-alpha drugs, which are not devoid of side effects feared by patients.
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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.