Researchers at Duke University School of Medicine have found that tapping into the nervous system could help reduce the gut inflammation that drives inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). A new study led by Luis Ulloa, PhD, and Wei Yang, PhD, reveals how electrical stimulation of the vagus nerve-;a major nerve connecting the brain and gut-;may combat the stress-related inflammation that worsens IBD symptoms. Published in Science Translational Medicine, the study showed that vagus nerve stimulation in stressed mice with colitis, a form of IBD, reduced inflammation, improved symptoms, and boosted survival rates.
By engaging the parasympathetic nervous system, the team observed that inflammation could be eased by inhibiting SUMOylation, a cellular process that shapes immune response. Modulating SUMOylation-;either through vagal nerve stimulation or treatment with a SUMOylation inhibitor-;could open the door to IBD therapies that focus on managing inflammation directly, rather than alleviating symptoms. In 2022, Duke researchers, backed by the National Institutes of Health, began investigating whether stimulating the vagus nerve could affect SUMOylation and set off a natural anti-inflammatory response that calms immune responses and reduces inflammation.
The new study is the first to show that targeting specific forms of SUMOylation could prevent the harmful influx of immune cells that can trigger gut inflammation. First study author and former Duke research scholar Ayman Youssef, MD,.
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