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eCAM Advance Access published online on September 4, 2009
eCAM, doi:10.1093/ecam/nep133
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© The Author(s) 2009. Published by Oxford University Press.
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.5/uk/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Electroacupuncture Treatment Normalized Sleep Disturbance in Morphine Withdrawal Rats

Yi-Jing Li, Fei Zhong, Peng Yu, Ji-Sheng Han, Cai-Lian Cui and Liu-Zhen Wu

Neuroscience Research Institute, Beijing 100191, P. R. China

Sleep disturbance is considered as an important symptom of acute and protracted opiate withdrawal. Current results suggest that sleep disturbance may be taken as a predictor of relapse. Appropriate sleep enhancement therapy will be in favor of the retention in treatment for opiate addicts. Our previous studies have shown that electroacupuncture (EA) is effective in suppressing morphine withdrawal syndrome. The aim of the present study is to investigate the effect of 2 and 100 Hz EA on the sleep disturbance during morphine withdrawal. Rats were made dependent on morphine by repeated morphine injections (escalating doses of 5–80 mg kg–1, subcutaneously, twice a day) for 5 days. EA of 2 or 100 Hz was given twice a day for 3 days, starting at 48 h after the last morphine injection. Electroencephalogram and electromyogram were monitored at the end of the first and the last EA treatments, respectively. Results showed that non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep, REM sleep and total sleep time decreased dramatically, while the sleep latency prolonged significantly during acute morphine withdrawal. Both 2 and 100 Hz EA produced a significant increase in NREM sleep, REM sleep and total sleep time. It was suggested that EA could be a potential treatment for sleep disturbance during morphine withdrawal.

Keywords: electroacupuncture – endogenous opioid system – morphine – sleep disturbance – withdrawal

For reprints and all correspondence: Prof. Cai-Lian Cui and Liu-Zhen Wu, Neuroscience Research Institute, Peking University, 38 Xueyuan Road, Beijing 100191, P.R. China. Tel: +86-10-82801120; Fax: +86-10-82801120; E-mail: clcui{at}bjmu.edu.cn, liuzw{at}bjmu.edu.cn

Received April 28, 2009; accepted August 3, 2009


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