Evidence Details for Th
PMID Title Journal Year Abstract
24527041 Acupuncture Stimulation Attenuates Impaired Emotional-Like Behaviors and Activation of the Noradrenergic System during Protracted Abstinence following Chronic Morphine Exposure in Rats. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2014;2014:216503. doi: 10.1155/2014/216503. Epub 2014 Jan 9. 2014 The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether acupuncture stimulation attenuates withdrawal-induced behaviors in the rats during protracted abstinence following chronic morphine exposure. To do this, male rats were first exposed to morphine gradually from 20 to 100 mg/kg for 5 days, and subsequently naloxone was injected once to extend despair-related withdrawal behaviors for 4 weeks. Acupuncture stimulation was performed once at the SP6 (Sanyinjiao) acupoint on rat's; hind leg for 5 min during protracted abstinence from morphine. The acupuncture stimulation significantly decreased despair-like behavior deficits in the forced swimming test and low sociability in the open-field test as well as increased open-arm exploration in the elevated plus maze test in the last week of 4-week withdrawal period. Also the acupuncture stimulation significantly suppressed the increase in the hypothalamic corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) expression, the decrease in the tyrosine hydroxylase expression in the locus coeruleus, and the decrease in the hippocampal brain-derived neurotrophic factor mRNA expression, induced by repeated injection of morphine. Taken together, these findings demonstrate that the acupuncture stimulation of SP6 significantly reduces withdrawal-induced behaviors, induced by repeated administration of morphine in rats, possibly through the modulation of hypothalamic CRF and the central noradrenergic system."

Evidence Sentence: In addition, previous studies suggested that morphine dependence and withdrawal induce hyperactivity of noradrenergic pathways and an increase in TH modulation in the LC.
Evidence Sentence: TH-like immunoreactivity was also analyzed in the cell bodies of major noradrenergic regions, including the LC (Figure 9(a)).
Evidence Sentence: In the brains of the MOR group, the number of TH immunoreactive neurons in the LC was decreased by 64.52%.
Evidence Sentence: Analysis of the numbers of TH-immunoreactive neurons values revealed that rats repeatedly exposed to morphine exhibit a significant decrease of TH expression compared to the SAL group (P < 0.01; Figure 9(c)).
Evidence Sentence: The number of TH-immunoreactive neurons was significantly increased in the central adrenergic regions of the MOR-SP group compared to the MOR group (P < 0.05).
Evidence Sentence: This finding indicates that the increase in the number of CRF-immunoreactivity and decrease in the number of TH-immunoreactivity induced by withdrawal were significantly restored by acupuncture stimulation to the SP6 acupoint.
Evidence Sentence: Also the acupuncture stimulation significantly suppressed the increase in the hypothalamic corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) expression, the decrease in the tyrosine hydroxylase expression in the locus coeruleus, and the decrease in the hippocampal brain-derived neurotrophic factor mRNA expression, induced by repeated injection of morphine.