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Updated: Jun 28, 2026
Preparation of Peripheral Nerve Stimulation Electrodes for Chronic Implantation in Rats
Published on: July 14, 2020
Acute electrical stimulation of nucleus ambiguus enhances immune function in rats
Ying-Wu Mei1, Zhan-Qing Yang, Wei Wang
1College of Animal Science and Veterinary Medicine, JiLin University, Changchun, China.
Background:
Up to now, many "immunoactive" brain areas have been identified, such as hypothalamic nuclei, brain reward system; but the nucleus ambiguous (Amb), a nucleus nervi vagis of medulla oblongata, was less well studied in neuroimmunomodulation.
Methods:
In order to obtain more profound comprehension and more knowledge on Amb, we studied the effect of acute electrical stimulation of Amb on thymus and spleen activity in rat. A stimulator was applied to stimulate the Amb of the anaesthetic rats using the parameter at 100 microgA x 5 ms x 100 Hz every 1 s for 1 min. The levels of TGF-13 and thymosin-beta4 mRNA in thymus, the release of IL-2 and IL-6 at splenocyte in vitro and splenic lymphocyte proliferation were measured at hour 0.5, 1, 2, 3 following the electrical stimulation.
Results:
The results showed that concanavalin A (Con A)-induced splenic lymphocyte proliferation and the release of IL-2 and IL-6 were all significantly enhanced at 0.5, 1, and 2 h following effective Amb stimulation as compared to in the control group. However, as compared to in the control group, the levels of TGF-beta and thymosin-beta4 mRNA in the thymus were both remarkably reduced at 0.5, 1, and 2 h following effective Amb stimulation.
Conclusions:
These findings reveal that the Amb participates in the modulation of animal immune functions.
