Optogenetic Stimulation of Vagal Efferent Activity Preserves Left Ventricular Function in Experimental Heart Failure.

Abstract

Large clinical trials designed to test the efficacy of vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) in patients with heart failure did not demonstrate benefits with respect to the primary endpoints. The nonselective nature of VNS may account for the failure to translate promising results of preclinical and earlier clinical studies. This study showed that optogenetic stimulation of vagal pre-ganglionic neurons transduced to express light-sensitive channels preserved left ventricular function and exercise capacity in a rat model of myocardial infarction-induced heart failure. These data suggested that stimulation of vagal efferent activity is critically important to deliver the therapeutic benefit of VNS in heart failure.

• Authors: Asif Machhada, Patrick S Hosford, Alex Dyson, Gareth L Ackland, Svetlana Mastitskaya, Alexander V Gourine
• Journal: JACC. Basic to translational science (JACC Basic Transl Sci) Vol. 5 Issue 8 Pg. 799-810 (Aug 2020) ISSN: 2452-302X [Electronic] United States
• PMID: 32875170 (Publication Type: Journal Article)
• Copyright: © 2020 The Authors.