Effect of HANS electroacupuncture on the expression of NPY in PAG of heroin addicted rats / 中国应用生理学杂志

ABSTRACT

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To examine the effects of Han's acupoint and nerve stimulator (HANS) electroacupuncture on the expression of NPY in periaqueductal grey (PAG) of heroin addicted rats.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Heroin was injected subcutaneously according to the principle of daily increasing dose in rats of experimented group. The ability of special learning and memory were tested by Morris water maze; The expression of NPY in PAG of rat were detected by immunohistochemistry.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>(1) Escape latency and searching distance in heroin-addiction group were significantly increased compared with those of normal group during the place navigation test (P < 0.05). However, in acupuncture group, escape latency and searching distance was obviously shortened compared with those of heroin-addiction group (P < 0.05). The exploring time and distance of original platform area in proportion to the total distance in heroin-addiction group significantly decreased compared with those of normal group during spatial probe test (P < 0.05). The exploring time and distance of original platform area in proportion to the total distance in acupuncture group was increased compared with those in heroin-addiction group (P < 0.01). (2) The expression of NPY of heroin-addiction group was lower than that in normal group in PAG, while those of acupuncture group was higher than that in the heroin-addiction group (P < 0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The learning and memory induced by heroin-addiction could be reversed and the expression of NPY in PAG was increased by HANS in rats.</p>