summary: Researchers have found that vagus nerve stimulation may reduce intestinal inflammation and improve outcomes in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). This study revealed how electrical stimulation of this cranial enteric nerve affects SUMOylation, a cellular process that triggers an immune response, alleviating symptoms and promoting healing.
This approach circumvents the limitations of current treatments and offers hope for therapies that directly target inflammation. With IBD cases on the rise, this breakthrough shows that bioelectronic medicine is a potential game changer for managing this chronic disease.
Important facts:
- Stimulating the vagus nerve in stressed colitis mice reduced inflammation, improved symptoms, and improved survival.
- Targeting SUMOylation, a process involved in immune regulation, mimics the effects of neurostimulation and reduces intestinal inflammation.
- IBD cases have increased by 50% over the past 15 years, affecting nearly 7 million people worldwide.
sauce: duke university
Researchers at Duke University School of Medicine have discovered that tapping into the nervous system may help reduce intestinal inflammation that causes inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).
New research led by Dr. Luis Ulloa and Dr. Wei Yang reveals how electrical stimulation of the vagus nerve, the main nerve that connects the brain and gut, can counter stress-related inflammation that worsens IBD symptoms I made it. This study reveals the brain’s role in gut health.
Published in scientific translational medicineWhen Duke researchers stimulated the vagus nerve in stressed mice with colitis, a type of IBD, they significantly reduced inflammation, reduced symptoms and improved survival.
The research team observed that by engaging the parasympathetic nervous system, inflammation could be alleviated by controlling SUMOylation, a cellular process that shapes the immune response.
Modulating SUMOylation either by vagus nerve stimulation or treatment with SUMOylation inhibitors could open the door to IBD treatments that focus on directly managing inflammation rather than reducing symptoms. be.
In 2022, Duke University researchers, with support from the National Institutes of Health, found that stimulation of the vagus nerve can influence SUMOylation, triggering a natural anti-inflammatory response that calms the immune response and reduces inflammation. We have started investigating whether there is a sex.
This new study is the first to show that targeting a specific form of SUMOylation can prevent the harmful influx of immune cells that can cause enteritis.
Inhibiting SUMOylation through genetic or drug-based approaches, said first study author Ayman Youssef, MD, former Duke University researcher and clinical research associate in autonomic neurology at Vanderbilt Medical Center. analyzed data identifying a dramatic slowing of disease progression in a mouse model.
“One of the surprising findings of this study is that inhibition of SUMOylation appears to mimic the beneficial effects of vagus nerve stimulation, resulting in improved clinical symptoms of colitis,” said the Duke Medical School professor. said Yang, professor of anesthesiology and associate professor of neurology.
IBD cases are rapidly increasing, increasing by 50% over the past 15 years. Scientists are ramping up efforts to reduce the cells that cause inflammation in the gut and improve treatment options for the approximately 7 million people affected worldwide.
IBD includes two main types: ulcerative colitis, which affects the colon, and Crohn’s disease, which causes inflammation in any part of the digestive tract. Both conditions are disabling and can lead to serious complications such as colon perforation, cancer, and even early death.
Current anti-inflammatory treatments reduce symptoms but are often insufficiently effective because over time patients can lose response to these drugs, relapse, and experience serious side effects. there is.
Researchers have long noted that stress plays an important role in exacerbating IBD symptoms, and some have even described ulcerative colitis as a psychosomatic disease.
“Stimulating the vagus nerve neutralized the effects of stress and restored a balanced and healthy physiological state,” said Ulloa, an anesthesiology researcher at Duke University and corresponding author of the study. Ta.
“Many relaxation techniques, such as deep breathing and meditation, are designed to strengthen the parasympathetic nervous system, and the vagus nerve plays a central role in relaxing most of our organs.
“Previous studies suggested a role for the vagus nerve, but our study showed that the effect is mediated by modulation of SUMOylation,” he said.
Professor Ulloa warns that not all patients will respond in the same way, and translating laboratory findings into clinical practice may yield different results or no benefit at all. This approach, called “bioelectronic medicine,” is part of an emerging field in which neurostimulation is being investigated to treat a variety of inflammatory conditions, from rheumatoid arthritis to Crohn’s disease.
Additional authors: Ata Ur Rehman, Mohamed Elebasy, Jatin Roper of Duke School of Medicine. Shehzad Z. Shaikh of the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and Jorn Karhausen of Duke and Humanitas Research Hospital.
Funding: Funding for this study was provided by the NIH National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (AT011387), the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (P01DK094779, 1R01DK104828, and P30-DK034987), and the Helmsley Charitable Trust.
About this neurotechnology and IBD research news
author: Chantel M. Kirkendall
sauce: duke university
contact: Chantel M. Kirkendall – Duke University
image: Image credited to Neuroscience News
Original research: The survey results are displayed below scientific translational medicine
