Authors
Wenjun Li, Shumin Zhang, Bingkui Zhang, Jun Qian, Vanhao Lo, Mingbing Su, Xinghua Li, Ying Chen, Yan Li, Jinbo Sun, Yi Gong, Taipin Guo
Published in
Journal of inflammation research. Volume 19. Pages 616229. Epub Jul 07, 2026.
Abstract
Negative Symptoms of Schizophrenia (NSS) are the primary contributors to poor prognosis in schizophrenia (SCZ), and immune-inflammatory mechanisms play a pivotal role in their pathogenesis. As non-invasive neuromodulation techniques, transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS), and transcutaneous electrical acupoint stimulation (TEAS) have been demonstrated to modulate peripheral inflammation levels in patients with SCZ.
This study aims to investigate the independent and synergistic effects of taVNS and TEAS on modulating peripheral inflammatory factors and ameliorating negative symptoms in patients with NSS.
This study employs a single-blind, randomized, sham-controlled, 2×2 factorial design. A total of 108 participants will be randomly allocated in a 1:1:1:1 ratio to four groups: taVNS plus TEAS, active taVNS plus TEAS, sham taVNS plus TEAS, and sham taVNS plus sham TEAS. The interventions will be administered for 30 minutes per session on alternate days for 4 weeks, followed by a 4-week follow-up period. The primary outcome is the change from baseline in peripheral inflammatory cytokine levels at weeks 4 and 8.
Recruitment is ongoing.
The study protocol aims to investigate the pre- and post-treatment changes in peripheral inflammatory cytokines among patients with NSS, with a specific focus on the correlation between symptom severity and alterations in inflammatory levels, thereby providing a biological rationale to guide clinical treatment.
PMID:
42437188
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 12 Jul 2026.
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