Vagus nerve stimulation: a novel method for obesity treatment? / 中华内分泌代谢杂志

ABSTRACT

Obesity is one of the most serious global public health issue. In addition to advocating healthy lifestyle, scientists are devoted to developing healthy and effective ways to tackle obesity. In recent years, vagus nerve stimulation has been revealed to have potential therapeutic effect on obesity, which may be related to regulating endocrine hormones and body metabolism, affecting different nerve functions, regulating inflammatory and immune pathways, adjusting intestinal flora and circadian rhythm, and so on. Current researches focus on percutaneous stimulation(auricular vagus nerve stimulation), subcutaneous stimulation(cervical and abdominal vagus nerve stimulation), and gastrointestinal stimulation(the implantation of vagus nerve stimulation device and vagus nerve blocking device). Growing number of studies have confirmed that these stimulation methods have favorable effects on obesity with less side effects. Moreover, the mechanism of Chinese traditional acupuncture for obesity treatment is similar to that of vagus nerve stimulation. Most of vagus nerve stimulation is conveyed via physical therapy. It is highly feasible and theoretically has few side effects, therefore is easy to be accepted by obese subjects and may become a promising approach for obesity treatment.