ArticleComprehensive psychoneuroendocrinology2021
Tone it down: Vagal nerve activity is associated with pro-inflammatory and anti-viral factors in breast cancer - An exploratory study.
Article in Comprehensive psychoneuroendocrinology, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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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
8 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 10 citations in OpenAlex.
- Pooled it
- Cancer Neoaxonogenesis: Mechanisms and Factors Involved in the Recruitment of Peripheral Nerves by Cancer Tissue.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Review
- Transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation in breast cancer: a neuroimmune model to improve quality of life.Frontiers in oncology · 2026Article
- Parasympathetic nervous activity and CTRA gene expression among healthy young adults in Japan.Brain, behavior, & immunity - health · 2025Article
- Positive social relations, loneliness, and immune system gene regulation.Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences · 2025Article
- Vagus nerve stimulation: Novel concept for the treatment of glioblastoma and solid cancers by cytokine (interleukin-6) reduction, attenuating the SASP, enhancing tumor immunity.Brain, behavior, & immunity - health · 2024Review
- Using heart rate variability to evaluate the association between the autonomic nervous system and coagulation function in patients with endometrial cancer.Oncology letters · 2024Article
- How to properly evaluate cardiac vagal tone in oncology studies: a state-of-the-art review.Journal of the National Cancer Center · 2024Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
In response to adverse social-environmental conditions, leukocytes gene expression profile is altered in a pattern recognized as the conserved transcriptional response to adversity (CTRA). This entails the up-regulated expression of pro-inflammatory genes and down-regulated expression of genes involved in type-I interferon (IFN) related anti-viral immunity. In contrast, vagal nerve activity is recognized as a significant anti-inflammatory modulator. In this work, we investigated the association between CTRA and vagal activity indicated by the standard deviation of all NN interval (SDNN), a measure of heart-rate variability, in breast cancer patients awaiting surgery (n = 16). This association was tested both at the molecular leukocyte transcription factor activity level, as well as at the cytokines serum levels. We found an association between higher SDNN and increased interferon (IFN) related anti-viral pathways, both on the leukocyte transcription factor level and serum protein level. Unexpectedly, we also found a positive correlation between higher SDNN and pro-inflammatory transcription factor activity and cytokine serum level, potentially suggesting that increased vagal activity was induced by increased inflammation, in the context of pre-surgical stress and the presence of malignant tissue. Transcription origin analysis (TOA) suggests a role for monocyte and B-cells in the anti-inflammatory and anti-metastatic effects induced by vagal nerve signaling. Larger prospective studies are needed to verify and elaborate on the results from this small cross-sectional study.
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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.