Vagus nerve stimulation for epilepsy: A review of central mechanisms

In a previous paper, the anatomy and physiology of the vagus nerve was discussed in an attempt to explain which vagus nerve fibers and branches are affected by clinically relevant electrical stimulation. This companion paper presents some of vagus nerve stimulation's putative central nervous system mechanisms of action by summarizing known anatomical projections of vagal afferents and their effects on brain biogenic amine pathways and seizure expression.

[1]  R. Norgren.  Projections from the nucleus of the solitary tract in the rat , 1978, Neuroscience.

[2]  G. Mogenson,et al.  A study of inputs to antidromically identified neurons of the locus coeruleus , 1977, Brain Research.

[3]  R. Raedt,et al.  Increased hippocampal noradrenaline is a biomarker for efficacy of vagus nerve stimulation in a limbic seizure model , 2011, Journal of neurochemistry.

[4]  S. Krahl,et al.  Vagus nerve stimulation for epilepsy: A review of the peripheral mechanisms , 2012, Surgical neurology international.

[5]  O. Snead,et al.  On the sacred disease: the neurochemistry of epilepsy. , 1983, International review of neurobiology.

[6]  G. Bishop,et al.  Topographical organization in the origin of serotoninergic projections to different regions of the cat cerebellar cortex , 1991, The Journal of comparative neurology.

[7]  D. Naritoku,et al.  Regional induction of fos immunoreactivity in the brain by anticonvulsant stimulation of the vagus nerve , 1995, Epilepsy Research.

[8]  A. Dorr,et al.  Effect of Vagus Nerve Stimulation on Serotonergic and Noradrenergic Transmission , 2006, Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics.

[9]  A. Björklund,et al.  Organization of Catecholamine Neurons in the Rat Central Nervous System , 1978 .

[10]  U. Ungerstedt.  Stereotaxic mapping of the monoamine pathways in the rat brain. , 1971, Acta physiologica Scandinavica. Supplementum.

[11]  G. Aghajanian,et al.  Habenular and other midbrain raphe afferents demonstrated by a modified retrograde tracing technique , 1977, Brain Research.

[12]  P. Jobe,et al.  Neurotransmitter abnormalities as determinants of seizure susceptibility and intensity in the genetic models of epilepsy. , 1981, Biochemical pharmacology.

[13]  G Chouvet,et al.  Afferent regulation of locus coeruleus neurons: anatomy, physiology and pharmacology. , 1991, Progress in brain research.

[14]  R. Browning,et al.  The role of the neurotransmitters in the epilepsies. , 1975, Advances in neurology.

[15]  R. Browning.  The Role of Neurotransmitters in Electroshock Seizure Models , 1987 .

[16]  C. Saper,et al.  Organization of medullary adrenergic and noradrenergic projections to the periaqueductal gray matter in the rat , 1992, The Journal of comparative neurology.

[17]  A. Hamberger,et al.  Effects of vagus nerve stimulation on amino acids and other metabolites in the CSF of patients with partial seizures , 1995, Epilepsy Research.

[18]  Douglas C. Smith,et al.  Increased extracellular concentrations of norepinephrine in cortex and hippocampus following vagus nerve stimulation in the rat , 2006, Brain Research.

[19]  S. Krahl,et al.  Locus Coeruleus Lesions Suppress the Seizure‐Attenuating Effects of Vagus Nerve Stimulation , 1998, Epilepsia.

[20]  G. Bishop,et al.  The distribution and origin of serotonin immunoreactivity in the rat cerebellum , 1985, Brain Research.

[21]  B. Uthman,et al.  Vagus nerve stimulation therapy for partial-onset seizures , 1998, Neurology.

[22]  K. Fuxe,et al.  EVIDENCE FOR THE EXISTENCE OF MONOAMINE-CONTAINING NEURONS IN THE CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM. I. DEMONSTRATION OF MONOAMINES IN THE CELL BODIES OF BRAIN STEM NEURONS. , 1964, Acta physiologica Scandinavica. Supplementum.

[23]  V. Brown,et al.  Recordings from the rat locus coeruleus during acute vagal nerve stimulation in the anaesthetised rat , 2005, Neuroscience Letters.

[24]  G. Bishop,et al.  The origin of serotoninergic afferents to the cat's cerebellar nuclei , 1994, The Journal of comparative neurology.

[25]  J. Dean,et al.  Prevention of Intractable Partial Seizures by Intermittent Vagal Stimulation in Humans: Preliminary Results , 1990, Epilepsia.

[26]  G. Morris,et al.  Long-term treatment with vagus nerve stimulation in patients with refractory epilepsy. The Vagus Nerve Stimulation Study Group E01-E05. , 1999, Neurology.

[27]  Barbara E. Jones,et al.  Ascending projections of the locus coeruleus in the rat. I. axonal transport in central noradrenaline neurons , 1977, Brain Research.

[28]  F. Marrosu,et al.  Vagus nerve stimulation increases norepinephrine concentration and the gene expression of BDNF and bFGF in the rat brain , 2007, Brain Research.

[29]  Lippincott Williams Wilkins,et al.  A randomized controlled trial of chronic vagus nerve stimulation for treatment of medically intractable seizures , 1995, Neurology.

[30]  Barbara E. Jones,et al.  Ascending projections of the locus coeruleus in the rat. II. Autoradiographic study , 1977, Brain Research.

[31]  M. Molliver.  Serotonergic Neuronal Systems: What Their Anatomic Organization Tells Us about Function , 1987, Journal of clinical psychopharmacology.

[32]  Cedric L. Williams,et al.  The effects of peripheral vagal nerve stimulation at a memory-modulating intensity on norepinephrine output in the basolateral amygdala. , 2004, Behavioral neuroscience.

[33]  Filippo S. Giorgi,et al.  The role of norepinephrine in epilepsy: from the bench to the bedside , 2004, Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews.

[34]  J. A. Ricardo,et al.  Anatomical evidence of direct projections from the nucleus of the solitary tract to the hypothalamus, amygdala, and other forebrain structures in the rat , 1978, Brain Research.

[35]  V. Venkataraman.  Vagus nerve stimulation and drug reduction , 2001, Neurology.

[36]  M. Kalia,et al.  Brainstem projections of sensory and motor components of the vagus nerve in the rat , 1982, The Journal of comparative neurology.

[37]  E. W. Maynert,et al.  The Role of Biochemical and Neurohumoral Factors in the Laboratory Evaluation of Antiepileptic Drugs , 1969, Epilepsia.

[38]  A. Jean,et al.  [The nucleus tractus solitarius: neuroanatomic, neurochemical and functional aspects]. , 1991, Archives internationales de physiologie, de biochimie et de biophysique.

[39]  E. V. Van Bockstaele,et al.  Efferent projections of the nucleus of the solitary tract to peri‐locus coeruleus dendrites in rat brain: Evidence for a monosynaptic pathway , 1999, The Journal of comparative neurology.

[40]  M Ennis,et al.  Dendrites of locus coeruleus neurons extend preferentially into two pericoerulear zones , 1996, The Journal of comparative neurology.

[41]  G. Doucet,et al.  Ultrastructure and synaptic targets of the raphe-nigral projection in the rat , 1993, Neuroscience.

[42]  W. Louis,et al.  Expression of c-fos and NGFI-A messenger RNA in the medulla oblongata of the anaesthetized rat following stimulation of vagal and cardiovascular afferents. , 1992, Brain research. Molecular brain research.

[43]  R. Gilmartin,et al.  Prospective Long‐Term Study of Vagus Nerve Stimulation for the Treatment of Refractory Seizures , 2000, Epilepsia.

[44]  I. Törk.  Anatomy of the Serotonergic System a , 1990, Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences.

[45]  F. M. Clark,et al.  The projections of locus coeruleus neurons to the spinal cord. , 1991, Progress in brain research.

[46]  A. Beaudet,et al.  The monoamine innervation of rat cerebral cortex: Synaptic and nonsynaptic axon terminals , 1978, Neuroscience.

[47]  G. Debonnel,et al.  Optimization of vagus nerve stimulation parameters using the firing activity of serotonin neurons in the rat dorsal raphe , 2009, European Neuropsychopharmacology.

[48]  Ralph Norgren,et al.  The nucleus of the solitary tract in the monkey: Projections to the thalamus and brain stem nuclei , 1980, The Journal of comparative neurology.

[49]  R. Browning,et al.  Noradrenergic abnormalities in the genetically epilepsy-prone rat , 1994, Brain Research Bulletin.

[50]  E. Przegaliński.  Monoamines and the Pathophysiology of Seizure Disorders , 1985 .