Vagus nerve stimulation inhibits cytokine production and attenuates disease severity in rheumatoid arthritis

• Published in: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS Vol. 113; no. 29; pp. 8284 - 8289
• Main Authors: Koopman, Frieda A., Chavan, Sangeeta S., Miljko, Sanda, Grazio, Simeon, Sokolovic, Sekib, Schuurman, P. Richard, Mehta, Ashesh D., Levine, Yaakov A., Faltys, Michael, Zitnik, Ralph, Tracey, Kevin J., Tak, Paul P.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States National Academy of Sciences 19.07.2016
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Animal models; Arthritis, Rheumatoid - blood; Arthritis, Rheumatoid - immunology; Arthritis, Rheumatoid - therapy; Autoimmune diseases; Biological Sciences; Cytokines; Cytokines - antagonists & inhibitors; Cytokines - blood; Cytokines - immunology; Epilepsy - therapy; Female; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Pain management; Rheumatoid arthritis; TNF inhibitors; Toxins; Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation-TENS; Vagus Nerve Stimulation; vagus nerve; cytokines; inflammatory reflex; tumor necrosis factor; rheumatoid arthritis

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a heterogeneous, prevalent, chronic autoimmune disease characterized by painful swollen joints and significant disabilities. Symptomatic relief can be achieved in up to 50% of patients using biological agents that inhibit tumor necrosis factor (TNF) or other mechanisms o...