Xiping Liu1, Zheng Yang2, Jun Xie3,
Qian Yin1, Shi-Jiang Li1
1Biophysics, Medical College of
Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, United States; 2Beijing Institute of
Basic Medical Science, China; 3GE Healthcare, United States
Levo-tetrahydropalmatine
(l-THP), purified from the Chinese herb, Stephanie, recently has been
demonstrated to be effective in attenuating heroin craving and relapse in
heroin addicts; it also inhibits cocaines rewarding effects on animal
models. Despite this behavioral evidence, the treatment mechanisms of l-THP
for drug addiction have yet to be elucidated. Here, we applied high-field
pharmacological MRI (phMRI) on heroin-dependent rats with or without chronic
l-THP treatment. We found l-THP significantly attenuates heroin-priming
induced BOLD responses in heroin-dependent rats in multiple addiction
relevant neural circuitries.
Keywords