Focus Rheums| ACR Convergence 2024 Previews

An official publication of the ACR and the ARP serving rheumatologists and rheumatology professionals

Non-Invasive Vagus Nerve Stimulation Tolerated, Effective for Rheumatoid Arthritis

Lisa Rapaport  |  

“The long-term side-effects of so many of our therapeutic drugs can be severe and life-threatening, so using our body’s built-in immune system and boosting it a bit with bioelectronics may be the best possible way to treat inflammation-related disease,” says Christopher Wilson, PhD, a professor of basic sciences and pediatrics at the Loma Linda University School of Medicine, California.

“Vagus nerve stimulation has the advantage of using the body’s own immune system to rebalance the immune response and, to the best of our knowledge so far, can be used to increase anti-inflammatory reflexes and decrease pro-inflammatory responses,” Dr. Wilson, who wasn’t involved in the study, says by email.

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Reference

  1. Marsal S, Corominas H, de Agustín JJ, et al. Non-invasive vagus nerve stimulation for rheumatoid arthritis: a proof-of-concept study. Lancet Rheumatol. 2021 Feb 1.

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