Normalization of ventral tegmental area structure following acupuncture in a rat model of heroin relapse

The modulation of mRNA levels of MAOA by electroacupuncture and psychotherapy in patients with pathological internet use

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study was to observe the efficacy of electroacupuncture (EA) and psychotherapy (PT) effect on the mental status, sleep quality and impulsive trait in patients with pathological internet use, and to observe the changes of Monoamine oxidase type A (MAOA) messenger Ribonucleic acid (mRNA) levels in each group.

METHODS

A total of 60 PIU patients were included for the present study. These patients were randomly divided into two groups: EA group and PT group. Baihui, Sishencong, Hegu, Neiguan, Shenmen, Taichong, Sanyinjiao and Xuanzhong were selected for acupuncture in the EA group, while group psychotherapy combined with individual psychotherapy was used for intervention in patients in the PT group. Young's Internet addiction Test (IAT), Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS), Self-Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS), Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS), Barratt Impulse Scale (BIS-11) and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) were used to observe the severity of Internet addiction, mental status, sleep quality and impulsive trait of all patients at baseline and 40th days of treatment; and MAOA mRNA data were collected at baseline and 40th days of treatment.

RESULTS

Electroacupuncture and psychological intervention effectively reduced IAT, SAS, SDS, Y-BOCS, BIS and PSQI scores of PIU patients. After 40 days treatment, the MAOA expression of the PT group was increased, and there was no significant change in EA group. The correlation analysis indicated that IAT scores were positively correlated with SAS, SDS, Y-BOCS, BIS and PSQI at baseline. In addition, after treatment the EA group showed that the change in IAT scores was positively correlated with the change in Y-BOCS and BIS scores, and the PT group showed that the change in IAT scores was positively correlated with the change in SDS, BIS and PSQI scores.

CONCLUSION

The present study showed that electroacupuncture and psychological intervention can improve severity of Internet addiction, mental status, sleep quality and impulsive trait of PIU patients. Simultaneously, neurobiological changes may be the underlying mechanisms of psychotherapy for internet additcion.

Metabolomics Analysis on Mice With Depression Ameliorated by Acupoint Catgut Embedding

Depression is a prevalent mental disease characterized by persistent low mood, lack of pleasure, and exhaustion. Acupoint catgut embedding (ACE) is a kind of modern acupuncture treatment, which has been widely used for the treatment of a variety of neuropsychiatric diseases. To investigate the effects and underlying mechanism of ACE on depression, in this study, we applied ACE treatment at the Baihui (GV20) and Dazhui (GV14) acupoints of corticosterone (CORT)-induced depression model mice. The results showed that ACE treatment significantly attenuated the behavioral deficits of depression model mice in the open field test (OFT), elevated-plus-maze test (EPMT), tail suspension test (TST), and forced swimming test (FST). Moreover, ACE treatment reduced the serum level of adreno-cortico-tropic-hormone (ACTH), enhanced the serum levels of 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT), and noradrenaline (NE). Furthermore, metabolomics analysis revealed that 23 differential metabolites in the brain of depression model mice were regulated by ACE treatment for its protective effect. These findings suggested that ACE treatment ameliorated depression-related manifestations in mice with depression through the attenuation of metabolic dysfunction in brain.

The Modulation of Reward and Habit Systems by Acupuncture in Adolescents with Internet Addiction

Purpose

Acupuncture is an effective therapy for Internet addiction (IA). However, the underlying mechanisms of acupuncture in relieving compulsive Internet use remain unknown. Neuroimaging studies have demonstrated the role of the ventral striatum (VS) in the progress of IA; hence, the aim of this study was to explore the effects of acupuncture on the resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) and relevant network of VS in IA.

Methods

Twenty-seven IA individuals and 30 demographically matched healthy control subjects (HCs) were recruited in this study. We acquired the functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data in IA subjects before and after 40 days of acupuncture treatment. Seed-to-voxel and ROI-to-ROI analyses were applied to detect the rsFC alterations of the VS and related network in IA subjects and to investigate the modulation effect of acupuncture on the rsFC.

Results

Compared with HCs, IA subjects exhibited enhanced rsFC of the right ventral rostral putamen (VRP) with the left orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), premotor cortex (PMC), cerebellum, and right ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC). In the network including these five ROIs, IA also showed increased ROI-to-ROI rsFC. Using a paired t-test in IA subjects before and after 40 days of acupuncture, the increased ROI-to-ROI rsFC was decreased (normalized to HC) with acupuncture, including the rsFC of the right VRP with the left OFC, PMC, and cerebellum, and the rsFC of the left cerebellum with the left OFC, PMC, and right vmPFC. Furthermore, the change in rsFC strength between the right VRP and left cerebellum in IA individuals was found positively correlated with the Internet craving alleviation after acupuncture.

Conclusions

These findings verified the modulation effect of acupuncture on functional connectivity of reward and habit systems related to the VS in IA individuals, which might partly represent the underlying mechanisms of acupuncture on IA.

Acupuncture therapy for drug addiction

Acupuncture therapy has been used to treat substance abuse. This study aims to review experimental studies examining the effects of acupuncture on addiction. Research and review articles on acupuncture treatment of substance abuse published between January 2000 and September 2014 were searched using the databases ISI Web of Science Core Collection and EBSCO’s MEDLINE Complete. Clinical trial studies on the efficacy of acupuncture therapy for substance abuse were classified according to substance (cocaine, opioid, nicotine, and alcohol), and their treatment protocols, assessments, and findings were examined. A total of 119 studies were identified, of which 85 research articles addressed the efficacy of acupuncture for treating addiction. There were substantial variations in study protocols, particularly regarding treatment duration, frequency of electroacupuncture, duration of stimulation, and choice of acupoints. Contradictory results, intergroup differences, variation in sample sizes, and acupuncture placebo effects made it difficult to evaluate acupuncture effectiveness in drug addiction treatment. This review also identified a lack of rigorous study design, such as control of confounding variables by incorporating sham controls, sufficient sample sizes, reliable assessments, and adequately replicated experiments.