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Acupuncture Reduces Alcohol Withdrawal Syndrome and c-Fos Expression in Rat Brain

Department of Integrative Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea

Department of Oriental Medical Science, Graduate School of East-West Medical Science, Kyung Hee University, Suwon, Korea

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Young Kyu Kwon

Department of Physiology, College of Oriental Medicine, Daegu Haany University, Daegu, Korea

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Kwang Joong Kim

Department of Physiology, College of Oriental Medicine, Daegu Haany University, Daegu, Korea

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Chae Ha Yang

Department of Physiology, College of Oriental Medicine, Daegu Haany University, Daegu, Korea

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Dae-Hyun Hahm

Department of Oriental Medical Science, Graduate School of East-West Medical Science, Kyung Hee University, Suwon, Korea

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Hye-Jung Lee

Department of Oriental Medical Science, Graduate School of East-West Medical Science, Kyung Hee University, Suwon, Korea

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Kwang-Ho Pyun

Department of Integrative Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea

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, and

Insop Shim

Department of Integrative Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea

Correspondence to: Dr. Insop Shim, Department of Integrative Medicine, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, 505 Banpo-Dong, Seocho-Ku, Seoul 137-701, Korea. Tel: (+82) 2-590-2971, Fax: (+82) 2-592-6359.

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https://doi.org/10.1142/S0192415X0500348XCited by:26 (Source: Crossref)

Abstract

Acupuncture as a therapeutic intervention is widely practiced in the treatment of many functional disorders including alcohol abuse. In the present study, the effects of acupuncture on alcohol withdrawal syndrome (AWS) and Fos-like immunoreactivity (FLI) in the striatum and the nucleus accumbens (NAC) of rats were investigated. During 3 days of cessation following chronic administration of ethanol (3 g/kg, i.p. for 3 weeks), rats showed a significant increase in AWS, such as hypermotility, tail rigidity, grooming and tremor, and an increase in FLI in the dopamine terminal areas of the brain. Treatment with acupuncture at zusanli (ST36) or sanyinjiao (SP6) during the withdrawal period inhibited both AWS and FLI of rats undergoing ethanol injection. These results suggest that acupuncture may be useful in the treatment of alcoholism by modulating post-synaptic neural activation in the striatum and NAC.

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