Noninvasive Vagus Nerve Stimulation Reduces Brain Lesion Volume in a Rat model of Traumatic Brain Injury

Authors

Afshin A. Divani, Department of Neurology, University of New Mexico School of Medicine, Albuquerque, NMFollow
Erik Taylor, Department of Radiology, University of New Mexico School of Medicine, Albuquerque, NM
Hafiz Abdullha Ikram, Department of Neurology, University of New Mexico School of Medicine, Albuquerque, NM
Pascal Salazar, Canon Medical Informatics, Inc., Minnetonka, MN
Yirong Yang, Department of Neurology, University of New Mexico School of Medicine, Albuquerque, NM
Karen SantaCruz, Department of Pathology, University of New Mexico School of Medicine, Albuquerque, NM
Onamma A. Edeh, Department of Neurology, University of New Mexico School of Medicine, Albuquerque, NM
Denis E. Bragin, Department of Neurology, University of New Mexico School of Medicine, Albuquerque, NM; Lovelace Biomedical Research Institute, Albuquerque, NM

Document Type

Poster

Publication Date

2022

Abstract

Background: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) continues to be a major cause of death and disability. Vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) has been shown to reduce proinflammatory responses in TBI models. We assessed the effect of a non-invasive VNS (nVNS) on reducing the lesion volume in a rat model of TBI.

Methods: TBI was induced using a standard CCI (Impact one, Leica) model. Rats were randomized into three groups: TBI control, TBI treated with five 2-min nVNS stimulations, and TBI treated with five 2x2-min nVNS stimulations using the gammaCore device was initiated 30 minutes post-TBI (10 minutes interval between each stimulation). MRI studies were performed at 1 and 7 days post-TBI. Lesion volumes were calculated using Image J software.

Results: A significant effect on the lesion volume was visible for each treatment on days 1 and 8. For day 1, the overall difference of lesion volume (log10 transformed) among the treatment groups ‘Control’ (N=13), VNS-2min (N=13), and VNS-4min (N=14) was highly significant (Kruskal-Wallis test statistics: 23.85, 2DF. P<0.0001). For day 7, the overall difference of lesion volume was also highly significant (test statistics: 23.85, 2DF. P<0.0001). Lesion volumes effect sizes (Cohen’s d) were large: -1.09 (95%CI [-2.28 to -0.08]) for the VNS-2min group and very large: -2.49 ([-3.48 to -1.39]) for the VNS-4min group vs. control.

Conclusions: Both nVNS treatments (2min and 4min) were associated with a large lesion volume reduction compared to the control group. Moreover, VNS-4min stimulations lead to lesions with significantly smaller sizes compared to the VNS-2min.

Comments

Poster presented at the Brain & Behavioral Health Research Day 2022

Recommended Citation

Divani, Afshin A.; Erik Taylor; Hafiz Abdullha Ikram; Pascal Salazar; Yirong Yang; Karen SantaCruz; Onamma A. Edeh; and Denis E. Bragin. "Noninvasive Vagus Nerve Stimulation Reduces Brain Lesion Volume in a Rat model of Traumatic Brain Injury." (2022). https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/hsc-bbhrd/51