Trial reportJournal of affective disorders2023
Transcutaneous vagal nerve stimulation modulates stress-induced plasma ghrelin levels: A double-blind, randomized, sham-controlled trial.
Trial report in Journal of affective disorders, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.
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
6 citing papers in PubMed, 9 citations in OpenAlex.
- A pilot study of brain correlates of long-term treatment with transcutaneous vagal nerve stimulation in posttraumatic stress disorder.Journal of affective disorders reports · 2026Article
- Transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation in breast cancer: a neuroimmune model to improve quality of life.Frontiers in oncology · 2026Article
- Accrued reductions in heart rate following transcutaneous vagal nerve stimulation in adults with posttraumatic stress disorder.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2025Article
- Neurotechnology for enhancing human operation of robotic and semi-autonomous systems.Frontiers in robotics and AI · 2025Review
- The vagus nerve: a cornerstone for mental health and performance optimization in recreation and elite sports.Frontiers in psychology · 2025Review
- Transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation: a bibliometric study on current research hotspots and status.Frontiers in neuroscience · 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
19 authors at 5 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundTranscutaneous cervical vagus nerve stimulation (tcVNS) has emerged as a potential treatment strategy for patients with stress-related psychiatric disorders. Ghrelin is a hormone that has been postulated to be a biomarker of stress. While the mechanisms of action of tcVNS are unclear, we hypothesized that tcVNS reduces the levels of ghrelin in response to stress.
methodsUsing a randomized double-blind approach, we studied the effects of tcVNS on ghrelin levels in individuals with a history of exposure to traumatic stress. Participants received either sham (n = 29) or active tcVNS (n = 26) after exposure to acute personalized traumatic script stress and mental stress challenges (public speech, mental arithmetic) over a three day period.
resultsThere were no significant differences in the levels of ghrelin between the tcVNS and sham stimulation groups at either baseline or in the absence of trauma scripts. However, tcVNS in conjunction with personalized traumatic scripts resulted in lower ghrelin levels compared to the sham stimulation group (265.2 ± 143.6 pg/ml vs 478.7 ± 349.2 pg/ml, P = 0.01). Additionally, after completing the public speaking and mental arithmetic tests, ghrelin levels were found to be lower in the group receiving tcVNS compared to the sham group (293.3 ± 102.4 pg/ml vs 540.3 ± 203.9 pg/ml, P = 0.009). LIMITATIONS: Timing of ghrelin measurements, and stimulation of only left vagus nerve.
conclusiontcVNS decreases ghrelin levels in response to various stressful stimuli. These findings are consistent with a growing literature that tcVNS modulates hormonal and autonomic responses to stress.
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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.