Abstract
Our previous studies have shown that acupuncture suppresses addictive behaviors induced by drugs of abuse, including cocaine, morphine and ethanol, by modulating GABA neurons in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) and dopamine (DA) release in the nucleus accumbens (NAc). The mechanisms by which the peripheral signals generated by acupoint stimulation are transmitted to brain reward systems are largely unexplored. The present study aims to investigate the role of spinal dorsal column (DC) somatosensory pathways in the acupuncture inhibition of drug addictive behaviors. Thus, we tested whether acupuncture at Shenmen (HT7) points reduces drug-seeking behaviors in rats self-administering morphine or ethanol and whether such effects are inhibited by the disruption of the cuneate nucleus (CN). The stimulation of HT7 suppressed morphine and ethanol self-administration, which were completely abolished by surgical lesioning of the CN. In in vivo extracellular recordings, single-unit activity of the CN was evoked during acupuncture stimulation. The results suggest that acupuncture suppresses morphine- and ethanol-seeking behaviors through the modulation of the CN, second-order neurons of the DC somatosensory pathway.
Highlights
Over the last three decades, there has been an increasing interest in the treatment of substance abuse by acupuncture (Cui et al, 2013)
We have shown that acupuncture at HT7 can suppress selectively morphine and ethanol self-administration, but not general consummatory behaviors, through GABA receptors in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) and DA release in the nucleus accumbens (NAc) induced by drugs of abuse (Kim et al, 2005; Yang et al, 2010; Yoon et al, 2010)
Consistent with our previous studies, the present study showed that acupuncture at HT7 attenuated morphine and ethanol self-administration behaviors
Summary
Over the last three decades, there has been an increasing interest in the treatment of substance abuse by acupuncture (Cui et al, 2013). While the fundamental relationship between somatic input signals induced by acupuncture and brain reward systems are not largely understood, our previous studies have suggested peripheral and spinal mechanisms underlying the inhibitory effects of acupuncture on acute cocaine-induced locomotor activity. Our previous studies have shown that acupuncture at Shenmen (HT7) points activates peripheral sensory afferents and that acupuncture-initiated impulses in turn activate large A-fibers within the ulnar nerve trunk, resulting in the inhibition of acute cocaine-induced locomotion (Kim et al, 2013). Our recent study revealed that the modulation of the dorsal column (DC) somatosensory pathway by acupuncture signals that stimulate HT7 suppresses cocaine-induced locomotor activity, an effect that is abolished by lesioning of the DC pathway including cuneate nucleus (CN, second order neurons of DC), but not to the spinothalamic tract (Chang et al, 2017). Acupuncture can suppress acute cocaine-induced locomotion through the spinal DC pathway
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