The Chronic Diseases Research Center - CEDOC has participated in a report from the European Commission regarding the use of animals for scientific purposes.
The case study presented by CEDOC to the European Animal Research Association - EARA was carried out by Silvia V. Conde, Principal Investigator of the Neuronal Control of Metabolic Disturbances: Therapeutic Strategies Group, and it focused on electronic modulation used in rats to treat diabetes.
This study tries to understand a new class of treatments termed bioelectronic medicines that are now emerging and that aim to target individual nerve fibres or specific brain circuits in pathological conditions to repair lost function and reinstate a healthy balance. It has been shown that carotid sinus nerve (CSN) denervation improves glucose homeostasis in insulin-resistant and glucose-intolerant rats. However, these positive effects from surgery appear to diminish over time and are heavily caveated by the severe side effects associated with permanent loss of chemosensory function. In order to avoid these adverse effects, this group of researchers has characterized the ability of a novel bioelectronic application, classified as kilohertz frequency alternating current (KHFAC) modulation, to suppress neural signals within the CSN of rodents.
You can read the full article entitled ‘Bioelectronic modulation of carotid sinus nerve activity in the rat: a potential therapeutic approach for type 2 diabetes‘ here.