Bioelectronics is the field of developing medicines that use electrical impulses to modulate the body's neural circuits as an alternative to drug-based interventions. How far away are we from having these very targeted "electroceuticals"?
Twenty years ago, neurosurgeon and researcher Kevin Tracey was studying whether an experimental molecule called CNI-1493 could limit damage to the brain after a stroke. His team was injecting the molecule into the brains of rats during a stroke to see how successfully it prevented swelling -- an immune system response -- of the brain.
To Tracey's surprise the drug not only prevented swelling locally, but it shut down the immune response in the whole body. The drug was having an impact on the vagus nerve -- a long, thin nerve that snakes its way from the brain through the abdomen. Stimulating the vagus nerve seemed to reduce the production of cytokines -- immune system mediators -- and block inflammation.
By: Olivia Solon, Edited by: Liat Clark
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via Wired.co.uk
http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2013-05/28/electroceuticals
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