Emerging research indicates that delivering small electrical pulses to the vagus nerve through implanted devices may offer a promising approach to treating autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis. Traditionally, these conditions are managed with immunosuppressive drugs, which can be costly and increase susceptibility to infections. Vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) presents a potential alternative or complement to these treatments.
Dr. Kevin Tracey, president of the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research at Northwell Health, explains, “Neural signals have the ability to reflexively control aspects of the immune system that, frankly, nobody had thought about before.” Dr. Tracey co-founded SetPoint Medical, a company developing a VNS system aimed at autoimmune diseases.
The vagus nerve, a pair of nerves connecting the brain to various organs, plays a crucial role in regulating internal organ functions and immune responses. Research has shown that stimulating this nerve can modulate immune activity and reduce inflammation. This discovery led to the concept of the “inflammatory reflex,” a neural circuit that controls immune responses.
A 2024 study involving 242 patients revealed that 12 weeks of VNS significantly reduced symptoms and slowed disease progression in individuals with rheumatoid arthritis.
Dr. Andrew Ko, a neurosurgeon at the University of Washington in Seattle who participated in implanting SetPoint’s stimulators in patients, notes, “Drugs work, but they sometimes don’t, and you can have side effects. In those cases, there are some benefits to looking at devices.”
The potential of VNS to modulate immune responses opens new avenues for possible future treatments for autoimmune diseases, offering hope for therapies that are both effective and have fewer side effects compared to traditional drug treatments.
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