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Neuroimaging studies of brain corpus striatum changes among heroin‐dependent patients treated with herbal medicine, U'finer ™ capsule
Author(s) -
Jia SW,
Wang W,
Liu Y,
Wu ZM
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
addiction biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.445
H-Index - 78
eISSN - 1369-1600
pISSN - 1355-6215
DOI - 10.1080/13556210500222456
Subject(s) - striatum , neuroimaging , dopaminergic , medicine , neuroscience , heroin , internal capsule , single photon emission computed tomography , psychology , anesthesia , pharmacology , dopamine , radiology , magnetic resonance imaging , drug , white matter
Chronic exposure to heroin is associated with structural changes in dopaminergic (DA) neurones. The present study examined the effects of a new herbal medicine, U'finer TM capsule, on the brain corpus striatum and DA systems, comparing pre‐ and post‐ treatment in 36 heroin‐dependent patients. Neuroimaging studies were performed by using single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) with 99m Tc‐TRODAT‐1 as radiotracer. The results show that U'finer TM significantly repaired the damaged bilateral corpus striatum, restoring it to a ‘panda eye? shape, analogous in size and shape to that of the healthy volunteers. DA transporter (DAT) function in the bilateral corpus striatum was restored to a normal state after recovery from neurotoxic insult. These findings suggest that U'finer TM is a reliable herbal medicine in the treatment of heroin dependency