Chronic deep brain stimulation in the rat nucleus accumbens and its effect on morphine reinforcement.
In order to explore a novel method for the treatment of drug abuse, we evaluated the effect of chronic deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the rat nucleus accumbens (NAc) on morphine reinforcement, using a DBS apparatus and an implant method we developed. Thirty-two adult rats weighing 240-260 g were divided into three groups, which included a DBS group (n = 10, administration of surgery, morphine and DBS), a sham DBS group (n = 12, administration of surgery and morphine) and a control group (n = 10, administration of physiological saline). The DBS electrode was stereotaxically implanted into the core of unilateral NAc and connected to an implantable pulse generator. Then, they were fixed to the rat skull. One week later, the rats in each group were intraperitoneally injected with morphine at an increasing dose (10-60 mg/kg) once daily. The rats in the DBS group were administered a 130-Hz high-frequency stimulation (HFS) once daily. A 900-second conditioned place preference (CPP) paradigm was used for determining the effect of electrical stimulation on morphine reinforcement in rats. The data showed that 7-10 days later, the preference score of the DBS group was significantly lower than that of the sham DBS group. The results suggest that chronic HFS of the rat NAc can block CPP induced by morphine and attenuate morphine reinforcement.
Liu
Hong-Yu
HY
Institute of Medical Electronics in Medical School, Key Laboratory of Biomedical Information Engineering, Ministry of Education, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China.
Jin
Jie
J
Tang
Jing-Shi
JS
Sun
Wei-Xin
WX
Jia
Hong
H
Yang
Xin-Ping
XP
Cui
Jian-Mei
JM
Wang
Chen-Guang
CG
D000818:Animals; D002755:Choice Behavior / Q000502:physiology; D003214:Conditioning, Classical / Q000502:physiology; D046690:Deep Brain Stimulation / Q000295:instrumentation*; D004298:Dopamine / Q000502:physiology; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004867:Equipment Design; D007274:Injections, Intraperitoneal; D008032:Limbic System / Q000503:physiopathology; D008636:Mesencephalon / Q000503:physiopathology; D009020:Morphine / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000633:toxicity; D009021:Morphine Dependence / Q000503:physiopathology*; D009042:Motivation; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000503:physiopathology; D009714:Nucleus Accumbens / Q000503:physiopathology*; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D012931:Social Environment; D013375:Substance Withdrawal Syndrome / Q000503:physiopathology
D009020:Morphine; D004298:Dopamine