Teach Me in 10 – The Vagus Nerve and COVID-19 With Dr Paul-Peter Tak
In a COVID-19 special of Teach Me in 10, we're joined by Dr Paul-Peter Tak. Dr Tak's resume is impressive; he is an immunologist, academic, business leader and entrepreneur, perhaps best known for his pioneering work into the effect of bioelectronics in inflammatory diseases.
Admittedly – this installment of Teach Me in 10 is a little over 10 minutes – but we think it's worth sharing the full insights Dr Tak provided us on the the vagus nerve, how its stimulation has proven a promising treatment approach in certain inflammatory conditions – both in preclinical and clinical tests – and how this research could be translated to COVID-19.
If you're interested in reading literature surrounding this area, Dr Tak recommends that you take a look at the following research papers:
Stimulation of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors attenuates collagen-induced arthritis in mice
Role of the cholinergic nervous system in rheumatoid arthritis: aggravation of arthritis in nicotinic acetylcholine receptor α7 subunit gene knockout mice
The alpha7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor on fibroblast-like synoviocytes and in synovial tissue from rheumatoid arthritis patients: a possible role for a key neurotransmitter in synovial inflammation
The cholinergic anti-inflammatory pathway: towards innovative treatment of rheumatoid arthritis
Vagus nerve stimulation inhibits cytokine production and attenuates disease severity in rheumatoid arthritis
Autonomic dysfunction precedes development of rheumatoid arthritis: A prospective cohort study
Neurostimulation of the cholinergic anti-inflammatory pathway ameliorates disease in rat collagen-induced arthritis
The cholinergic anti-inflammatory pathway alleviates acute lung injury
Implications for neuromodulation therapy to control inflammation and related organ dysfunction in COVID-19
Autonomic brain centers and pathophysiology of COVID-19
A prospective, randomized, controlled study assessing vagus nerve stimulation using the gammaCore®-Sapphire device for patients with moderate to severe CoViD-19 Respiratory Symptoms (SAVIOR): A structured summary of a study protocol for a randomised controlled trial
