Exploring the vagus nerve and the inflammatory reflex for therapeutic benefit in chronic spinal cord injury


Author: Ona Bloom1, Kevin J Tracey, Valentin A Pavlov

Affiliation: <sup>1</sup> The Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research, Northwell Health, Manhasset Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine, Hempstead, New York, USA.
Conference/Journal: Curr Opin Neurol
Date published: 2022 Jan 31
Other:
  Special Notes: doi: 10.1097/WCO.0000000000001036.   ,  Word Count: 111  
    Purpose of review:

To describe features and implications of chronic systemic inflammation in individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI) and to summarize the growing therapeutic possibilities to explore the vagus nerve-mediated inflammatory reflex in this context.



Recent findings:

The discovery of the inflammatory reflex provides a rationale to explore neuromodulation modalities, that is, electrical vagus nerve stimulation and pharmacological cholinergic modalities to regulate inflammation after SCI.



Summary:

Inflammation in individuals with SCI may negatively impact functional recovery and medical consequences after SCI. Exploring the potential of the vagus nerve-based inflammatory reflex to restore autonomic regulation and control inflammation may provide a novel approach for functional improvement in SCI.





PMID: 35102123 DOI: 10.1097/WCO.0000000000001036