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VNS for Treatment of Inflammatory Joint Diseases

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Electroceuticals

Abstract

The cholinergic anti-inflammatory pathway regulates innate and adaptive immunity during normal physiological function, and activation of the pathway by electrical stimulation of the vagus nerve (VNS) can reduce pathological levels of inflammation in animal models of autoimmune disorders. A proof-of-concept human study of VNS in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) has shown that VNS can ameliorate inflammation in humans. Future clinical studies will employ a novel, application-specific investigational stimulation system. In concept, this system is capable of being evolved to function in a closed-loop manner, adjusting therapy delivery to the patient’s level of disease activity.

Conflicts Statement: P.P.T. has received consulting fees from SetPoint Medical Corporation and is currently an employee of GlaxoSmithKline, which holds an equity interest in SetPoint Medical Corporation. He is a on the Board of Directors for Galvani Biosciences, another electroceuticals firm.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. SetPoint Medical Corporation, Valencia, CA, USA

    Yaakov A. Levine PhD, Jesse M. Simon MS, Michael Faltys & Ralph Zitnik MD

  2. Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, Clinical Immunology and Rheumatology, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Frieda Koopman MD

  3. Department of Medicine, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK

    Paul-Peter Tak MD, PhD

  4. Department of Rheumatology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium

    Paul-Peter Tak MD, PhD

  5. Research & Development, GlaxoSmithKline, Stevenage, UK

    Paul-Peter Tak MD, PhD

Authors
  1. Yaakov A. Levine PhD
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  2. Jesse M. Simon MS
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  3. Frieda Koopman MD
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  4. Michael Faltys
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  5. Ralph Zitnik MD
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  6. Paul-Peter Tak MD, PhD
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Paul-Peter Tak MD, PhD .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Sheffield Institute for Translational Neuroscience, Department of Neuroscience, Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry & Health, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, United Kingdom

    Arshad Majid

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Levine, Y.A., Simon, J.M., Koopman, F., Faltys, M., Zitnik, R., Tak, PP. (2017). VNS for Treatment of Inflammatory Joint Diseases. In: Majid, A. (eds) Electroceuticals. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28612-9_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28612-9_2

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