Trial reportNeurogastroenterology and motility2022
Transcutaneous vagal nerve stimulation protects against stress-induced intestinal barrier dysfunction in healthy adults.
Trial report in Neurogastroenterology and motility, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 22 papers.
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
22 citing papers in PubMed, 30 citations in OpenAlex.
- The impact of (poly)phenol-rich sugarcane extract intervention on markers of gastrointestinal integrity and systemic inflammation in response to exertional-heat stress.Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition · 2026Trial
- Trial
- Transcutaneous vagal nerve stimulation protects against stress-induced intestinal barrier dysfunction in healthy adults.Neurogastroenterology and motility · 2022Trial
- The Cost of the Cure: Antibiotic Exposure as a Risk Factor for Irritable Bowel Syndrome.Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Auricular Vagus Nerve Stimulation in Inflammatory Bowel Disease: Mechanistic Insights and Biomarker-Based Evaluation of Therapeutic Response.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Review
- 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
- A Review of Vagus Nerve Stimulation for Disease: Comprehensive Theory and Evidence for Mechanisms of Action.Comprehensive physiology · 2026Review
- Enteric neuropathy and the vagus nerve: Therapeutic implications.Neurogastroenterology and motility · 2025Review
- Effects of Stress, Vagal Nerve Stimulation and Disease Activity on Circulating Cytokines, Quantified by an Ultrasensitive Technique, in Ulcerative Colitis: A Pilot Study.JGH open : an open access journal of gastroenterology and hepatology · 2025Article
- Integrating the lactulose-mannitol test for intestinal permeability with untargeted metabolomics for drug monitoring through dual liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry.Analytical and bioanalytical chemistry · 2025Article
- Transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation as an innovative approach for managing perioperative gastrointestinal dysfunction: a narrative review.Frontiers in medicine · 2025Review
- A multidisciplinary approach to the management of disorders of gut-brain interaction: psychopharmacology, psychotherapy, and diet.Frontiers in gastroenterology (Lausanne, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Efficacy of vagus nerve stimulation in gastrointestinal disorders: a systematic review.Gastroenterology report · 2025Review
- Article
- Recent advances in measuring the effects of diet on gastrointestinal physiology: Probing the "leaky gut" and application of real-time ultrasound.JGH open : an open access journal of gastroenterology and hepatology · 2024Review
- Electroceuticals and Magnetoceuticals in Gastroenterology.Biomolecules · 2024Review
- Role of stress and early-life stress in the pathogeny of inflammatory bowel disease.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2024Review
- The Importance of Visceral Hypersensitivity in Irritable Bowel Syndrome-Plant Metabolites in IBS Treatment.Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Review
- Six Decades of Dopamine Hypothesis: Is Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor the New D2?Reports (MDPI) · 2023Review
- Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundIntestinal barrier dysfunction is the likely initiating event in multiple human diseases. Currently, there are limited therapeutic strategies to address its dysfunction. Animal studies suggest that vagal nerve stimulation may improve intestinal barrier function, but this has not been evaluated in humans. This study aimed to determine the effect of vagal nerve stimulation on intestinal permeability in adults administered a bolus dose of intravenous corticotropin releasing hormone (CRH) which has been shown to increase small intestinal permeability in healthy human subjects.
methodsIn a cross-over study, 16 volunteers (median age 34 years, 11 female) were randomized to receive auricular transcutaneous vagal nerve or sham stimulation (10 minutes each side) after intravenous administration of 100 µg of CRH. Intestinal barrier function was measured before and 2 h after each intervention with dual-sugar urine testing (lactulose:mannitol ratio) and intestinal fatty-acid binding protein (I-FABP). KEY
resultsExposure to CRH increased I-FABP concentrations by a median of 49 (IQR 4-71)% (p = 0.009). Lactulose:mannitol ratios were 0.029 (0.025-0.050) following vagal stimulation compared with 0.062 (0.032-0.170) following sham stimulation (p = 0.0092), representing a fall of 53 (22-71)%. I-FABP concentrations did not change (p = 0.90).
conclusionsBrief non-invasive vagal nerve stimulation consistently reduces paracellular permeability of the small intestine after CRH administration, but does not entirely mitigate I-FABP release from the epithelium. Studies of vagal nerve stimulation in disease states are warranted.
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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.