Cumaali DEMİRTAŞ, Mahmut Salih GENÇ, Pelin ERGUVEN, Kubra SEVGIN, Mustafa GOKCE, Eray Metin GÜLER, Hakan BEYAZTAŞ, Ahmet Furkan MAZLUM, Bülent GÜLEÇ
Southern Clinics of Istanbul Eurasia - 2026;37(3):207-215
Objective: Liver ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury, commonly occurring in trauma, organ transplantation, major hepatic surgery, and shock, not only impairs hepatic function but also induces dysfunction in distant organs such as the kidneys, lungs, and heart, leading to increased morbidity and mortality. This study investigated whether non-invasive transauricular vagus nerve stimulation (tVNS) could mitigate cardiac and pulmonary injury in a rat hepatic I/R model. Methods: Twenty-one male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly assigned to three groups (n=7 each): Control (laparotomy only), I/R (1 h hepatic ischemia + 3 h reperfusion), and I/R+tVNS (1 h ischemia + 3 h reperfusion with concurrent tVNS). At the end of reperfusion, cardiac and pulmonary tissues were harvested for biochemical analysis. Results: tVNS reduced oxidative stress and inflammatory responses in both organs. In cardiac tissue, the I/R+tVNS group demonstrated significantly higher total antioxidant status (TAS) and lower total oxidant status (TOS), oxidative stress index (OSI), interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta), and hypoxia-inducible factor-1alpha (HIF-1alpha) compared with the I/R group. In pulmonary tissue, OSI and IL-1beta levels were significantly decreased by tVNS, while HIF-1alpha showed a downward trend without statistical significance. Conclusions: Non-invasive tVNS effectively alleviated oxidative stress and enhanced antioxidant capacity in the heart and lungs following hepatic I/R. These results suggest that tVNS confers cardiopulmonary protection against hepatic I/R injury, likely through modulation of inflammatory cytokine responses and reinforcement of antioxidant defences.
