Department of Biomedical Sciences, Noorda College of Osteopathic Medicine, Provo, UT 84606, USA.
Department of Psychology/Neuroscience, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT 84602, USA.
Int J Mol Sci. 2022 Oct 20;23(20):12630. doi: 10.3390/ijms232012630.
Therapeutic activation of mechanoreceptors (MStim) in osteopathy, chiropractic and acupuncture has been in use for hundreds of years with a myriad of positive outcomes. It has been previously shown to modulate the firing rate of neurons in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) and dopamine (DA) release in the nucleus accumbens (NAc), an area of interest in alcohol-use disorder (AUD). In this study, we examined the effects of MStim on VTA GABA neuron firing rate, DA release in the NAc, and behavior during withdrawal from chronic EtOH exposure in a rat model. We demonstrate that concurrent administration of MStim and EtOH significantly reduced adaptations in VTA GABA neurons and DA release in response to a reinstatement dose of EtOH (2.5 g/kg). Behavioral indices of EtOH withdrawal (rearing, open-field crosses, tail stiffness, gait, and anxiety) were substantively ameliorated with concurrent application of MStim. Additionally, MStim significantly increased the overall frequency of ultrasonic vocalizations, suggesting an increased positive affective state.
在整骨疗法和针灸中，机械感受器（MStim）的治疗性激活已经使用了数百年，并且产生了无数积极的结果。先前的研究表明，它可以调节腹侧被盖区（VTA）中神经元的放电率和伏隔核（NAc）中的多巴胺（DA）释放，这是酒精使用障碍（AUD）的一个研究热点。在这项研究中，我们研究了 MStim 对慢性乙醇暴露后大鼠模型 VTA GABA 神经元放电率、NAc 中 DA 释放以及戒断期间行为的影响。我们证明，MStim 和乙醇的同时给药显著降低了 VTA GABA 神经元对再摄取剂量乙醇（2.5 g/kg）的适应性改变和 DA 的释放。同时应用 MStim 可实质性改善乙醇戒断的行为指标（竖起、旷场十字、尾巴僵硬、步态和焦虑）。此外，MStim 显著增加了超声波发声的总体频率，表明积极的情绪状态增加。
