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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Behav. Neurosci.
Sec. Motivation and Reward
Volume 18 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fnbeh.2024.1455622
This article is part of the Research Topic The Role, and Underlying Neural Mechanisms of, Physical Activity in Treating Substance and Alcohol Use Disorders View all 4 articles

Mechanical Acupuncture at HT7 Attenuates Alcohol Self-Administration in Rats by Modulating Neuroinflammation and Altering mPFC-Habenula-VTA Circuit Activity

Provisionally accepted
Su Yeon Seo Su Yeon Seo 1,2Sekyun Bang Sekyun Bang 1Suk Yun Kang Suk Yun Kang 1Seong Jin Cho Seong Jin Cho 1Kwang-Ho Choi Kwang-Ho Choi 1Yeonhee Ryu Yeonhee Ryu 1*
  • 1 Korea Institute of Oriental Medicine (KIOM), Daejeon, Republic of Korea
  • 2 Korea University of Science and Technology, Daejeon, Republic of Korea

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Alcohol use disorder is a chronic disorder with significant limitations in pharmacological treatments, necessitating the exploration of non-pharmacological interventions. In this study, we investigated the effects of mechanical acupuncture at the HT7 acupoint on alcohol self-administration (10% v/v) in rats. Our findings demonstrate that stimulation of the HT7 acupuncture point significantly decreased the frequency of active lever presses in rats self-administering alcohol (p < 0.05). Alcohol self-administration increased microglial activity and sigma 1 receptor expression in the habenula (Hb), while HT7 stimulation mitigated these effects, decreasing microglial activity and sigma 1 receptor levels (p < 0.05). Additionally, alcohol self-administration reduced brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) expression in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and increased tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) levels in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) (p < 0.05). HT7 stimulation reversed these alterations by increasing BDNF expression in the mPFC and decreasing TH levels in the VTA (p < 0.05). Further investigation revealed that BDNF microinjection into the mPFC inhibited sigma 1 receptor activity in the Hb, while microglial inhibition in the Hb decreased TH expression in the VTA (p < 0.05). The administration of the microglial inhibitor MINO to the Hb also reduced alcohol self-administration (p < 0.05). These results suggest that HT7 stimulation regulates the mPFC-Hb-VTA circuit, leading to decreased alcohol-seeking behavior. Our study demonstrates that HT7 acupuncture can modulate the mPFC-Hb-VTA circuit, providing a potential non-pharmacological treatment for alcohol-seeking behavior by influencing microglial activity, sigma 1 receptor expression, and TH levels. These findings contribute to a deeper understanding of the neural mechanisms underlying acupuncture's therapeutic effects on alcohol use disorder.

    Keywords: alcohol, Acupuncture, Habenula, Microglia, BDNF

    Received: 27 Jun 2024; Accepted: 09 Oct 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Seo, Bang, Kang, Cho, Choi and Ryu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Yeonhee Ryu, Korea Institute of Oriental Medicine (KIOM), Daejeon, Republic of Korea

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