Prevention & lipidsRandomised controlled trial
Non-invasive vagus nerve stimulation and exercise capacity in healthy volunteers: a randomized trial
- Randomised controlled trial
- single-centre
- double-blind
- sham-controlled
- crossover
Authors' conclusion
Non-invasive vagal stimulation improves measures of cardiorespiratory fitness and attenuates inflammation, offering an inexpensive, safe, and scalable approach to improve exercise capacity.
Study context
- Population
- Healthy volunteerscrossover
- Participants
- 28 volunteers
- Comparison
- Transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation vs sham stimulation
- Primary endpoint
- VO2peak during progressive exercise to exhaustion
- Follow-up
- After 7 days
Primary result
As reported in the abstract
VO2peak change
Transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation (tVNS)
1.04
95% CI .34-1.73 · mL/kg/min
Sham
−0.54
95% CI −1.52 to .45 · mL/kg/min
Secondary outcomes
| Outcome | increase (W) (95% CI) | P value | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Peak exercise measures — tVNS vs Sham · work rate | 6 (2–10) | P = 0.006 | |
| −5051015Difference, W (linear scale) |
| Outcome | increase (bpm) (95% CI) | P value | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Peak exercise measures — tVNS vs Sham · heart rate | 4 (1–7) | P = 0.011 | |
| −50510Difference, bpm (linear scale) |
| Outcome | increase (breaths/min) (95% CI) | P value | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Peak exercise measures — tVNS vs Sham · respiratory rate | 4 (2–6) | P < 0.001 | |
| −50510Difference, breaths/min (linear scale) |
Whole blood transcriptomic response to lipopolysaccharide (5 participants)
- tVNS reduced the inflammatory response
Original publication
Non-invasive vagus nerve stimulation and exercise capacity in healthy volunteers: a randomized trial. Eur Heart J. Published 19 February 2025. doi:10.1093/eurheartj/ehaf037
Summarised from the published abstract; every number is checked against it