Effects of transcutaneous electric acupoint stimulation on drug use and responses to cue-induced craving: a pilot study.

BACKGROUND: Transcutaneous electric acupoint stimulation (TEAS) avoids the use of needles, and instead delivers a mild electric current at traditional acupoints. This technique has been used for treating heroin addiction, but has not been systematically tested for other drugs of abuse. This study aims to investigate the effects of TEAS on drug addiction. METHODS: Volunteers who were either cocaine-dependent (n = 9) or cannabis-dependent (n = 11) but were not seeking treatment for their dependence participated in a within-subject, single-blind study. Treatment consisted of twice daily 30-minute sessions of TEAS or sham stimulation for 3.5 days. The active TEAS levels were individually adjusted to produce a distinct twitching response in the fingers, while the sham stimulation involved 2 minutes of stimulation at threshold levels followed by 28 minutes of stimulation below the detection levels. The participants recorded their drug use and drug cravings daily. At 1 hour after the last morning session of TEAS or sham stimulation, a cue-induced craving EEG evaluation was conducted. Event-related P300 potentials (ERPs) were recorded, sorted, and analyzed for specific image types (neutral objects, non-drug-related arousing images, or drug-related images). RESULTS: TEAS treatment did not significantly reduce the drug use or drug cravings, or significantly alter the ERP peak voltage or latency to peak response. However, the TEAS treatment did significantly modulate several self-reported measures of mood and anxiety. CONCLUSION: The results of this pilot study with a limited sample size suggest that the acupoint stimulation techniques and protocol used in this trial alone do not significantly reduce cravings for or use of cocaine or cannabis. The findings that TEAS modulates mood and anxiety suggest that TEAS could be used as an adjunct in a multimodal therapy program to treat cocaine and cannabis dependence if confirmed in a full randomized controlled clinical trial.

Cue reactivity in cannabis-dependent adolescents.

The authors measured event-related potentials with a craving manipulation to investigate the neural correlates of drug cue reactivity in 13 adolescents who are cannabis dependent (CD; ages 14-17). The P300 responses to marijuana (MJ) pictures (MJ-P300) and control pictures (C-P300) were assessed after handling neutral objects and again after handling MJ paraphernalia (MJP). Self-reported drug craving and heart rates also were measured. MJ-P300 were larger than C-P300 (p < .001), and both the MJ-P300 and craving increased significantly after handling MJP (p = .002 and p = .003, respectively), with no association between the magnitude of craving and MJ-P300. Heart rates were not affected by handling MJP. The results showed that adolescents who are CD have an attentional bias to MJ stimuli that increases after handling marijuana paraphernalia. Generally, the results are consistent with what has been reported for adult heavy chronic cannabis smokers, although there were some differences that require further investigation.

Neuronal depletion of omega-3 fatty acids induces flax seed dietary self-selection in the rat.

The impact of essential dietary fatty acid deficiency on self-selection of fatty acid enriched foods is little studied in spite of widespread health promotion claims for fatty acid supplemented diets. Accordingly, the present studies investigated the consequences of consumption over four weeks of omega-3 fatty acid replete and deficient diets on dietary fatty acid self-selection and brain lipid composition in rats. Dietary omega-3 fatty acid deficiency produced correspondingly low levels (50-55% decrease) of omega-3 fatty acids in the forebrain relative to rats consuming an omega-3 fatty acid replete diet. The state of omega-3 fatty acid deficiency generated a robust preference for consumption of an omega-3 fatty acid replete diet. Moreover, omega-3 fatty acid self-selection developed slowly and was not present in rats maintained on laboratory chow diet suggesting that post-ingestive nutritional cues, rather than taste, odor or texture cues, were employed in guiding the preference for the omega-3 fatty acid enriched diet. These results provide evidence for the ability of rats with declining brain levels of omega-3 fatty acids to detect a dietary deficiency of this essential class of lipids and to identify and consume a food source capable of restoring fatty acid repletion.

A therapeutic dose of zolpidem has limited abuse-like effects in drug-naïve females: a pilot study.

Zolpidem has abuse potential, particularly among individuals with histories of drug abuse. This double-blind, placebo-controlled, cross over pilot study investigated the subjective effects of zolpidem (10 mg) in drug-naïve females. Over the course of a 5-h period vital signs were monitored and a series of computerized questionnaires was administered. Results indicate that zolpidem engendered subjective effects characteristic of hypnotic drugs, but reduced ratings of drug liking, willing to take again, and willing to pay for, relative to placebo. Thus, a therapeutic dose of zolpidem may have limited potential for misuse among females who have no experience with drugs of abuse.