PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Zitnik, Ralph J.
TI  - Treatment of chronic inflammatory diseases with implantable medical devices*
AID  - 10.3949/ccjm.78.s1.05
DP  - 2011 Aug 01
TA  - Cleveland Clinic Journal of Medicine
PG  - S30--S34
VI  - 78
IP  - 8 suppl 1
4099  - http://www.ccjm.org/content/78/8_suppl_1/S30.short
4100  - http://www.ccjm.org/content/78/8_suppl_1/S30.full
SO  - Cleve Clin J Med2011 Aug 01; 78
AB  - Implantable medical devices are finding increasing use in the treatment of diseases traditionally targeted with drugs. It is well established that the cholinergic anti-inflammatory pathway serves as a physiological regulator of inflammatory responses, but stimulation of this pathway therapeutically by electrical stimulation of the vagus nerve can also diminish excessive or dysregulated states of inflammation. Recent data from a wide variety of animal models, as well as evidence of reduced vagal tone in rheumatoid arthritis and other inflammatory diseases, support the rationale for, and feasibility of, developing implantable vagal nerve stimulation devices to treat chronic inflammation in humans.