Ultrasound Neuromodulation Shows Promise to Treat Pulmonary Hypertension, Feinstein Institutes Research
May 8, 2024 — Ultrasound could one day complement or even replace drugs to treat diseases. Bioelectronic medicine scientists at The Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research used noninvasive, splenic focused ultrasound stimulation (sFUS) and found they can reduce inflammation and improve symptoms of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). This was done in preclinical models, but could apply to humans for whom PAH is rare but fatal and affects predominantly younger women. The study was published today in Circulation Research, an American Heart Association journal, with Stefanos Zafeiropoulos, MD PhD, as the lead author and Stavros Zanos, MD PhD, as the senior author. The research adds to the growing scientific evidence of bioelectronic medicine and neuromodulation as an effective therapy to treat diseases with an inflammatory component. The study, titled “Ultrasound neuromodulation of an anti-inflammatory pathway at the spleen produces sustained improvement of experimental pulmonary hype