UCSF

Inflammatory skin diseases are difficult to treat because of a lack of available treatment options for severe disease. However, recent advances have shown that vagus nerve stimulation can be used to decrease inflammation and reduce disease severity in rheumatoid arthritis and inflammatory bowel disease. Changes in cytokine profiles observed in these studies are similar to those seen with use of biologics in inflammatory skin disease, suggesting that they act along similar pathways to disrupt chronic inflammation and treat inflammatory disease. This commentary explores the existing evidence demonstrating the efficacy of neuromodulation in inflammatory disease, and outlines reasons why these findings could translate to the dermatology setting to treat inflammatory skin disease.