Norepinephrine Might be a New Target on Vagus Nerve

Authors: Guney E, Uner AK and Akyuz E*

Volume 3, Issue 4

Abstract

Clinical and experimental studies have shown that vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) provides significant results in neurological diseases such as epilepsy, Parkinson disease, migraine and drug-resistant depression, but its molecular mechanism has not yet fully elucidated. It is known that the therapeutic effect of VNS is caused by the induction of noradrenergic neurons in Locus Coeruleus (LC) and thus increased norepinephrine (NE) release. It has been shown that the effect is achieved by the projections of the vagus nerve extending from the nucleus tract solitarius (NTS) to LC. In this opinion, it was suggested that instead of electrically stimulating the vagus nerve and indirectly increasing NE release, an NE release device that directly targets the NE foci must be developed. In this way, it is thought that the side effects of VNS can be ruled out and a stronger NE response might be obtained at the same time. Therefore, norepinephrine related pathways might be a new target on vagus nerve.

Keywords: Norepinephrine; Experimental Studies; Neurological Diseases; Epilepsy

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