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PRECLINICAL STUDY: Chronic morphine‐induced neuronal morphological changes in the ventral tegmental area in rats are reversed by electroacupuncture treatment
Author(s) -
Chu Ningning,
Xia Wei,
Yu Peng,
Hu Ling,
Zhang Rong,
Cui Cailian
Publication year - 2008
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 - 10.1111/j.1369-1600.2007.00092.x
Subject(s) - ventral tegmental area , electroacupuncture , morphine , medicine , opiate , neuroscience , pharmacology , acupuncture , biology , pathology , dopamine , receptor , alternative medicine , dopaminergic
The aim of this study was to observe the effect of electroacupuncture (EA) on chronic morphine‐induced neuronal morphological changes in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) in rats at electron‐microscopic level. Fourteen days of administering escalating doses of morphine induced pathological morphological changes of neurons in the VTA: the rough endoplasmic reticulum swelled, membrane configuration of the nucleus and mitochondria blurred, and structure of myelin sheath changed. Both 2 and 100 Hz EA treatment reversed the morphological alterations induced by chronic morphine administration. The findings provide new evidence that EA may serve as a potential therapy in treating opiate addiction.