Guo Lei, Hu Aqian, Zhao Xiaoxi, Xiang Xiaojun
Department of Psychiatry, National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders, The Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, Changsha, China.
Front Psychiatry. 2022 Jul 4;13:900135. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2022.900135. eCollection 2022.
Orexin has been linked to the regulation of reward and motivation in animals, but there have been few human studies to validate its regulatory effects. We aimed to determine how orexin-A levels changed during different stages of withdrawal, as well as the relationship between orexin-A levels and withdrawal symptoms in male METH users.
This study included 76 METH users and 35 control participants. The METH users were divided into three groups: group 1 (abstinence within 1 week, = 23), group 2 (abstinence between 1 week and 3 months, = 38), and group 3 (abstinence over 3 months, = 15). At baseline and 1 month of enrollment, the plasma orexin-A level was examined. To track the withdrawal symptoms, self-report questionnaires (anxiety, depression, craving, and sleep quality) were collected at two points.
The orexin-A levels of groups 1 ( < 0.001) and 2 ( < 0.001) were lower than that of the controls at baseline but not group 3. One month later, the orexin-A levels of group 2 ( < 0.05) significantly increased, while no significant changes in those of groups 1 and 3 were observed. Furthermore, the orexin-A levels of group 1 were positively linked with depression ( < 0.01) and anxiety ( < 0.01) at baseline.
The decrease in orexin-A levels was only transitory during the initial abstinence phase, and it was eventually restored near to normal with continued abstinence among the male METH users. Furthermore, a lower concentration of orexin-A may serve as a risk factor for negative emotions during METH withdrawal.
食欲素与动物的奖赏和动机调节有关，但很少有人类研究来验证其调节作用。我们旨在确定男性甲基苯丙胺使用者在戒断不同阶段食欲素 -A 水平如何变化，以及食欲素 -A 水平与戒断症状之间的关系。
本研究纳入了 76 名甲基苯丙胺使用者和 35 名对照参与者。甲基苯丙胺使用者被分为三组：第 1 组（1 周内戒断，n = 23），第 2 组（1 周和 3 个月之间戒断，n = 38），第 3 组（3 个月以上戒断，n = 15）。在基线和入组 1 个月时，检测血浆食欲素 -A 水平。为追踪戒断症状，在两个时间点收集自我报告问卷（焦虑、抑郁、渴望和睡眠质量）。
第 1 组（P < 0.001）和第 2 组（P < 0.001）在基线时食欲素 -A 水平低于对照组，但第 3 组不是。1 个月后，第 2 组（P < 0.05）的食欲素 -A 水平显著升高，而第 1 组和第 3 组未观察到显著变化。此外，第 1 组在基线时食欲素 -A 水平与抑郁（P < 0.01）和焦虑（P < 0.01）呈正相关。
在男性甲基苯丙胺使用者中，食欲素 -A 水平的降低仅在最初的戒断阶段是暂时的，随着持续戒断最终会恢复到接近正常水平。此外，较低浓度的食欲素 -A 可能是甲基苯丙胺戒断期间负面情绪的一个危险因素。
