Maccioni Paola, Vargiolu Daniela, Falchi Maura, Morazzoni Paolo, Riva Antonella, Cabri Walter, Carai Mauro A M, Gessa Gian Luigi, Colombo Giancarlo
Neuroscience Institute, National Research Council of Italy, Section of Cagliari, S.S. 554, km. 4,500, I-09042 Monserrato, CA, Italy.
Indena S.p.A., I-20139 Milan, MI, Italy.
Alcohol. 2014 Sep;48(6):587-93. doi: 10.1016/j.alcohol.2014.06.002. Epub 2014 Jun 7.
The dried roots of Salvia miltiorrhiza are highly valued in Chinese folk medicine for use in the prevention and treatment of a series of ailments. Previous studies have demonstrated that administration of standardized extracts of S. miltiorrhiza selectively reduced excessive alcohol drinking and relapse-like drinking in selectively bred Sardinian alcohol-preferring (sP) rats. The present study was designed to extend these findings on the "anti-alcohol" properties of S. miltiorrhiza extracts to operant procedures of oral alcohol self-administration. Two independent groups of sP rats were trained to lever-respond on an FR4 schedule of reinforcement for alcohol (15%, v/v) or sucrose (1-3%, w/v) in daily 30 min sessions. Once responding had stabilized, rats were tested under the fixed ratio 4 (FR4) schedule of reinforcement (index of alcohol reinforcing properties) and the progressive ratio (PR) schedule of reinforcement (index of alcohol motivational properties). Treatment with S. miltiorrhiza extract (0, 50, 100, and 200 mg/kg, intragastrically [i.g.]) markedly reduced lever responding for alcohol, amount of self-administered alcohol, and breakpoint for alcohol (defined as the lowest response requirement not achieved in the PR experiment). No dose of S. miltiorrhiza extract altered any parameter of sucrose self-administration. These results a) demonstrate that treatment with S. miltiorrhiza extract selectively reduced the reinforcing and motivational properties of alcohol in sP rats and b) extend to operant procedures of alcohol self-administration previous data on the "anti-alcohol" effects of S. miltiorrhiza extracts. These data strengthen the notion that novel pharmacological approaches for treatment of alcohol use disorders may stem from natural substances.
丹参干燥根在中国民间医学中因可用于预防和治疗一系列疾病而备受重视。先前的研究表明，给予丹参标准化提取物可选择性降低选择性培育的撒丁岛嗜酒（sP）大鼠的过度饮酒和复发性饮酒行为。本研究旨在将这些关于丹参提取物“抗酒精”特性的研究结果扩展至口服酒精自我给药的操作性程序。两组独立的sP大鼠被训练在每天30分钟的实验中，按照固定比率4（FR4）强化程序，以获取酒精（15%，v/v）或蔗糖（1 - 3%，w/v）作为奖励。一旦反应稳定，大鼠在固定比率4（FR4）强化程序（酒精强化特性指标）和累进比率（PR）强化程序（酒精动机特性指标）下接受测试。用丹参提取物（0、50、100和200毫克/千克，灌胃[i.g.]）进行治疗，显著降低了大鼠对酒精的杠杆反应、自我给药酒精量以及酒精的断点（定义为PR实验中未达到的最低反应要求）。丹参提取物的任何剂量均未改变蔗糖自我给药的任何参数。这些结果a）表明，用丹参提取物治疗可选择性降低sP大鼠中酒精的强化和动机特性，b）将丹参提取物“抗酒精”作用的先前数据扩展至酒精自我给药的操作性程序。这些数据强化了这样一种观念，即治疗酒精使用障碍的新型药理学方法可能源于天然物质。
