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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2011 Apr 27.
Published in final edited form as: J Immunol. 2011 Feb 21;186(7):4340–4346. doi: 10.4049/jimmunol.1003722

FIGURE 5.

FIGURE 5

Vagus nerve modulates systemic norepinephrine via the α7nAChR, the splenic nerve, and the spleen. Vagotomy (VGX) prevents afferent vagus nerve toward the CNS. VNS and α7nAChR agonists activate the splenic nerve to produce norepinephrine (NE) via the α7nAChR. Our results suggest that acetylcholine released by the vagus nerve in the celiac mesenteric ganglia (CMG) activates postsynaptic α7nAChR of the splenic nerve, leading to the release of norepinephrine in the spleen. The anti-inflammatory potential of the vagus nerve and α7nAChR agonists is inhibited by splenectomy or splenic neurectomy (SNX). SNS mimics the anti-inflammatory mechanism of the vagus nerve and α7nAChR agonists to induce norepinephrine and prevent LPS-induced serum TNF levels. SNS re-establishes neuromodulation in α7nAChR knockout mice.