A new therapeutic strategy against chronic heart failure: chronic vagal nerve stimulation

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There is always a need for better intervention or drugs to reduce a high mortality rate and to improve a quality of life in patients with chronic heart failure (CHF). A line of clinical evidence indicates that prevention of mechanical, electrical, and metabolic remodeling is essential for improvement of the prognosis. In the present study, we developed an implantable device for chronic vagal nerve stimulation (VNS) and investigated the effects of VNS on mechanical, electrical, and metabolic remodeling in CHF rats after large myocardial infarction. The VNS therapy improved end-systolic elastance of the left ventricle and prevented ventricular dilatation, preserved electrical stability of the heart through upregulation of gap junction proteins, and enhanced glucose uptake by cardiomyocytes and intracellular ATP reserve. These results suggest that the chronic VNS therapy is useful for the treatment of CHF.