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Dexmedetomidine improves alcohol withdrawal symptom via activating α₂ adrenergic receptor in rat hippocampus

ZENG Ting¹, ZHANG Hong-Yan², ZHAO Xin¹, LIU Yan¹, GUAN Yan-Zhong^2,*

¹First Clinical School, Mudanjiang Medical University, Mudanjiang 157011, China；²Department of Physiology, Mudanjiang Medical University, Mudanjiang 157011, China

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of α₂ adrenergic receptor agonist dexmedetomidine on withdrawal symptoms in alcohol-dependent rats and the underlying mechanism, so as to provide a scientific basis for the treatment of alcohol withdrawal syndrome (AWS). Adult Sprague-Dawley (SD) male rats were orally administered with 6% aqueous alcohol continuously for 28 d to establish alcohol drinking model, and then stopped drinking to induce AWS. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to determine the content of norepinephrine (NE) in the locus coeruleus and hippocampus of rats. Dexmedetomidine (5, 10, and 20 μg/kg) was intraperitoneally injected respectively when the rats showed significant AWS. In some rats, α₂ adrenergic receptor antagonist yohimbine was injected into hippocampus in advance. The results showed that, compared with the control group, the 6 h withdrawal group exhibited significantly increased AWS score and amount of repeat drinking. The NE contents in hippocampus and locus coeruleus of the last drinking and the 6 h withdrawal groups were significantly increased compared with those of the control group. Dexmedetomidine intervention significantly decreased AWS score and hippocampus NE content in the 6 h withdrawal group, while yohimbine could reverse these effects of dexmedetomidine. These results suggest that dexmedetomidine might improve the withdrawal symptoms in alcohol-dependent rats via activating α₂ adrenergic receptor.

Key words: dexmedetomidine; alcohol withdrawal; norepinephrine; hippocampus; yohimbine

Received: 　　Accepted:

Corresponding author: 关艳中　　E-mail: guanyanz@hotmail.com

DOI: 10.13294/j.aps.2022.0039

Citing This Article：

ZENG Ting, ZHANG Hong-Yan, ZHAO Xin, LIU Yan, GUAN Yan-Zhong. Dexmedetomidine improves alcohol withdrawal symptom via activating α₂ adrenergic receptor in rat hippocampus. Acta Physiol Sin 2022; 74 (4): 541-547 (in Chinese with English abstract).