{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,10]],"date-time":"2026-07-10T00:54:41Z","timestamp":1783644881535,"version":"3.55.0"},"reference-count":31,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"11","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,11,16]],"date-time":"2021-11-16T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1637020800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100008368","name":"Gigtforeningen","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["R171-A5825"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["R171-A5825"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100008368","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/100008368","name":"Gigtforeningen","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["R172-A5843"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["R172-A5843"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100008368","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Pharmaceuticals"],"abstract":"<jats:p>(1) Polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR) is an inflammatory disease characterised by pain, morning stiffness, and reduced quality of life. Recently, vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) was shown to have anti-inflammatory effects. We aimed to examine the effect of transcutaneous VNS (t-VNS) on PMR. (2) Fifteen treatment-na\u00efve PMR patients completed the study. Patients underwent a 5-day protocol, receiving 2 min of t-VNS stimulation bilaterally on the neck, three times daily. Cardiac vagal tone (CVT) measured on a linear vagal scale (LVS), blood pressure, heart rate, patient-reported outcome, and biochemical changes were assessed. (3) t-VNS induced a 22% increase in CVT at 20 min after initial stimulations compared with baseline (3.4 \u00b1 2.2 LVS vs. 4.1 \u00b1 2.9 LVS, p = 0.02) and was accompanied by a 4 BPM reduction in heart rate (73 \u00b1 11 BPM vs. 69 \u00b1 9, p &lt; 0.01). No long-term effects were observed. Furthermore, t-VNS induced a 14% reduction in the VAS score for the hips at day 5 compared with the baseline (5.1 \u00b1 2.8 vs. 4.4 \u00b1 2.8, p = 0.04). No changes in CRP or proinflammatory analytes were observed. (4) t-VNS modulates the autonomic nervous system in patients with PMR, but further investigation of t-VNS in PMR patients is warranted.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ph14111166","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,11,17]],"date-time":"2021-11-17T02:42:28Z","timestamp":1637116948000},"page":"1166","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":14,"title":["The Effect of Transcutaneous Vagus Nerve Stimulation in Patients with Polymyalgia Rheumatica"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"14","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8830-0013","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jacob","family":"Venborg","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Rheumatology, Aarhus University Hospital, 8200 Aarhus, Denmark"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Anne-Marie","family":"Wegeberg","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Mech-Sense, Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Aalborg University Hospital, 9000 Aalborg, Denmark"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Salome","family":"Kristensen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Rheumatology, Aalborg University Hospital, 9000 Aalborg, Denmark"},{"name":"Department of Clinical Medicine, Aalborg University, 9000 Aalborg, Denmark"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Birgitte","family":"Brock","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Steno Diabetes Center Copenhagen, 2820 Gentofte, Denmark"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Christina","family":"Brock","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Mech-Sense, Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Aalborg University Hospital, 9000 Aalborg, Denmark"},{"name":"Department of Rheumatology, Aalborg University Hospital, 9000 Aalborg, Denmark"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mogens","family":"Pfeiffer-Jensen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Rheumatology, Aarhus University Hospital, 8200 Aarhus, Denmark"},{"name":"Department of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Copenhagen, 2200 Copenhagen, Denmark"},{"name":"Copenhagen Center for Arthritis Research (COPECARE), Center for Rheumatology and Spine Diseases, Rigshospitalet, 2600 Glostrup, Denmark"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,11,16]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Camellino, D., Giusti, A., Girasole, G., Bianchi, G., and Dejaco, C. 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