{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,29]],"date-time":"2026-09-29T06:03:54Z","timestamp":1790661834889,"version":"4.1.0"},"reference-count":32,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,29]],"date-time":"2026-09-29T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1790640000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Neurosci."],"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Introduction<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Alzheimer\u2019s disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder with no curative therapies, and vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) has emerged as a promising neuromodulatory approach. This prospective, open-label pilot study aimed to evaluate the feasibility, safety, and preliminary cognitive, psychological, inflammatory, and AD biomarker effects of invasive VNS (iVNS) in Chinese AD patients.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Five AD patients (mean age: 62.4 \u00b1 4.0 years) underwent iVNS implantation, with assessments at baseline, 3, and 6 months postoperatively (one patient did not complete the 6-month follow-up). Cognitive function (MMSE, CDR, VFT, BNT), psychological\/behavioral symptoms (CMAI, HAMA, HAMD), sleep\/daily-living status (ESS, ADL), serum inflammatory factors, and AD biomarkers were measured.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      Among cognitive outcomes, MMSE increased by 1 point at both follow-ups and VFT rose by 5.2 and 4.25 points at 3 and 6 months, respectively, although none of these changes reached statistical significance; global CDR remained unchanged. HAMA and HAMD scores decreased, and ESS scores declined by 25\u201327%, without reaching significance. Serum pro-inflammatory Eotaxin and CCL5 were significantly reduced (\n                      <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\n                      = 0.026 and\n                      <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\n                      = 0.045, respectively), whereas CXCL10 levels showed a non-significant numerical increase. Although the A\u03b242 and A\u03b242\/A\u03b240 ratio showed numerical increases (by 126.4% and 75.3%) and pTau181, pTau217, and NfL showed numerical decreases, these changes were not statistically significant. Only transient hoarseness was reported.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Discussion<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>These preliminary findings suggest that iVNS is feasible and associated with early signals of cognitive, psychological, inflammatory, and biomarker changes in AD patients, which warrant confirmation in larger, randomized, sham-controlled trials.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fnins.2026.1934496","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,29]],"date-time":"2026-09-29T05:47:31Z","timestamp":1790660851000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["A pilot study of invasive vagus nerve stimulation in Chinese patients with Alzheimer\u2019s disease: preliminary results on safety, cognition, and biomarkers"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"20","author":[{"given":"Yingchuan","family":"Chen","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Neurosurgery, Beijing Tiantan Hospital, Capital Medical University","place":["Beijing, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Tenghong","family":"Lian","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Center for Cognitive Neurology, Department of Neurology, Beijing Tiantan Hospital, Capital Medical University","place":["Beijing, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Dongmei","family":"Luo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Center for Cognitive Neurology, Department of Neurology, Beijing Tiantan Hospital, Capital Medical University","place":["Beijing, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Rujin","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Neurosurgery, Beijing Tiantan Hospital, Capital Medical 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University","place":["Beijing, China"]},{"name":"China National Clinical Research Center for Neurological Diseases, Beijing Tiantan Hospital, Capital Medical University","place":["Beijing, China"]},{"name":"Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Clinical Trial, Capital Medical University","place":["Beijing, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Anxin","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Epidemiology, Beijing Neurosurgical Institute, Capital Medical University","place":["Beijing, China"]},{"name":"China National Clinical Research Center for Neurological Diseases, Beijing Tiantan Hospital, Capital Medical University","place":["Beijing, China"]},{"name":"Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Clinical Trial, Capital Medical University","place":["Beijing, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Fangang","family":"Meng","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of 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