Is the vagus nerve stimulation a way to decrease body weight in humans?

Obesity and its complications constitute an important health problem in growing number of people. Behavioral and pharmacological treatment is not much effective and surgical treatment carries too many threats. Promising method to be used is pharmacological or electric manipulation of vagus nerves. Regulation of food intake and energy utilization is a complex process regulated by centers in hypothalamus and brainstem which are receiving information from the peripheral via afferent neural pathways and sending peripherally adequate instructions by efferent neural pathways. In these signals conduction an important role plays vagus nerve. Additionally central nervous system stays under influence of endocrine, paracrine and neuroendocrine signals taking part in these regulations, functioning directly onto the centre or on the afferent neural endings. 80-90% fibers of vagus nerve are afferent fibers, so their action is mainly afferent, but possible contribution of the efferent fibers cannot be excluded. Efferent stimulation induces motility and secretion in the intestinal tract. Afferent unmyelinated C-type fibres of the vagus nerve are more sensitive and easily electrically stimulated. Information from vagus nerve is transmitted to nucleus tractus solitarius, which has projections to nucleus arcuate of the medio-basal hypothalamus, involved in the control of feeding behavior. It is suggested, that interaction onto the vagus nerve (stimulation or blocking) can be an alternative for other ways of obesity treatment. Through the manipulation of the vagus nerve activity the goal is achieved by influence on central nervous system regulating the energy homeostasis.