Influence Of High Frequency Electrical Stimulus To The Nucleus Accumbens On Cocaine Self-administration In Rats

After detoxification, the relapse rate among human drug addicts is high .Now it is very difficult to solve this problom Relapse of drug-taking behavior is recipitated by three major factors: a stressful life event, an environmental stimulus previously associated with drug taking, or reexposure to the drug itself Although considerable progress has been made in identifying the neuronal circuitry and neurochemical mechanisms underlying drug abuse,an effective therapeutic for drug addiction remains elusive. Evidence indicates that damaging nucleus accumbens is useful for drug addicts.Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is effective in the treatment of Parkinson's disease .Is DBS of the nucleus accumbens useful in drug addiction.?This experiments examined the influence of DBS of the nucleus accumbens on cocaine priming-induced reinstatement of drug seeking ObjectiveTo explore a new way for cure of drug addiction by investigating the influence of high frequency electrical stimulus to the nucleus accumbens (NAc) on the formation of cocaine self-administration in rats.MethodsSixteen rats were divided randomly into two groups: control group and stimulation group(n=8). All the 16 rats were placed in operant chambers for a 2 h self-administration session everyday for 15days. After 15 d of cocaine self-administration total, the animals underwent an extinction phase during which cocaine was replaced with saline. Daily 2 h extinction sessions were conducted until responding was <15% of the response rate maintained by cocaine self-administration.After the extinction phase, priming-induced reinstatement of drug-seeking behavior was assessed via the intraperitoneal administration of 20 mg/kg cocaine. For the reinstatement sessions, the satisfaction of the response requirements for each component resulted in a saline rather than a cocaine infusion. During the reinstatement sessions, a high frequency electrical stimulation was delivered to the bipolar electrodes of the rats in stimulation group. The stimulation continued until the end of the reinstatement session. The reinstatement session and the extinction sessions were carried out for three times.ResultsDuring three reinstatement sessions,the times of nose-poke in stimulation group is obviously lower compare with the times of the control group and the times of the 15th day(p<0.01),while the times of nose-poke in control group during three reinstatement sessions has no obvious statistical desperation compare with the times of the 15th day (p>0.05). ConclusionDBS significantly attenuated the reinstatement of drug seeking precipitated by the intraperitoneal administration of 20 mg/kg cocaine.