Effect and mechanism study on transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation for functional dyspepsia model rats

Abstract Objective To explore the effect and its possible mechanism of the intervention of transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS) for the functional dyspepsia (FD) model rats. Methods Of the 25 male SD rats, 6 rats were set as blank group, the other 19 rats were established to be the functional dyspepsia (FD) model by iodoacetamide intragastric administration, and 18 FD models were successfully established. The 18 model rats were randomly divided into a model group, a sham-taVNS group, and taVNS group, with 6 rats in each group. There was no intervention applied to the rats in the blank and model groups. Whereas, the rats in sham-taVNS group received stimulation to the rim of auricular concha of both sides, and those in taVNS group received stimulation to the cavity of auricular concha of both sides, for 30 min each time, once a day, 7 days in succession. After the intervention, the gastric sensitivity of the rats in each group under different pressure conditions in the stomach, the expressions of serum brain-gut peptide motilin (MTL), cholecystokinin (CCK), glucagon-likepeptide1 (GLP-1), and inflammatory factors IL-4, IL-10, and IL-1β were detected. Results (1) Gastric sensitivity: compared with the blank group, the gastric sensitivity of the model group was higher (P Conclusion TaVNS can reduce the gastric sensitivity of FD model rats by peripheral anti-inflammatory action and regulating the abnormal secretion of brain-gut peptide.