Cargando…

Effect of Transcutaneous Auricular Vagus Nerve Stimulation on Protracted Alcohol Withdrawal Symptoms in Male Alcohol-Dependent Patients

Protracted alcohol withdrawal symptoms (PAWS), characterized by the presence of substance-specific signs and symptoms (including anxiety, irritability, mood instability, insomnia, and cravings), make alcohol abstinence difficult and increase the risk of relapse in recovering alcoholics. The goal of...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Wang, Yong-Mei, Xu, Ya-Yun, Zhai, Yi, Wu, Qian-Qian, Huang, Wen, Liang, Yan, Sun, Yan-Hong, Xu, Lian-Yin
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8437143/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34526917
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2021.678594
_version_ 1783752115258130432
author Wang, Yong-Mei
Xu, Ya-Yun
Zhai, Yi
Wu, Qian-Qian
Huang, Wen
Liang, Yan
Sun, Yan-Hong
Xu, Lian-Yin
author_facet Wang, Yong-Mei
Xu, Ya-Yun
Zhai, Yi
Wu, Qian-Qian
Huang, Wen
Liang, Yan
Sun, Yan-Hong
Xu, Lian-Yin
author_sort Wang, Yong-Mei
collection PubMed
description Protracted alcohol withdrawal symptoms (PAWS), characterized by the presence of substance-specific signs and symptoms (including anxiety, irritability, mood instability, insomnia, and cravings), make alcohol abstinence difficult and increase the risk of relapse in recovering alcoholics. The goal of this study was to evaluate the effect of transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS) on PAWS and plasma brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), and leptin levels in patients with alcohol dependency. A total of 114 patients with alcohol dependence were randomly divided into two groups: the treatment group and the control group. The patients in the treatment group were treated with taVNS of the bilateral auricular concha using an ear vagus nerve stimulator. The Pennsylvania Alcohol Craving Scale was used to evaluate the extent of craving for alcohol. The Self-Rating Anxiety Scale and Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS) were used to evaluate the extent of anxiety and depression symptoms, respectively. The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) was used to assess sleep quality. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was used to measure plasma BDNF, IL-6, TNF-α, and leptin levels. The results showed that the SDS and PSQI scores were significantly lower in the treatment group than in the control group. Moreover, compared with the control group, the average BDNF levels in the treatment group were significantly increased. These results suggest that taVNS could improve the depression symptoms and sleep quality in alcohol-dependent patients after withdrawal, which might be related to the upregulation of plasma BDNF levels.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-8437143
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2021
publisher Frontiers Media S.A.
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-84371432021-09-14 Effect of Transcutaneous Auricular Vagus Nerve Stimulation on Protracted Alcohol Withdrawal Symptoms in Male Alcohol-Dependent Patients Wang, Yong-Mei Xu, Ya-Yun Zhai, Yi Wu, Qian-Qian Huang, Wen Liang, Yan Sun, Yan-Hong Xu, Lian-Yin Front Psychiatry Psychiatry Protracted alcohol withdrawal symptoms (PAWS), characterized by the presence of substance-specific signs and symptoms (including anxiety, irritability, mood instability, insomnia, and cravings), make alcohol abstinence difficult and increase the risk of relapse in recovering alcoholics. The goal of this study was to evaluate the effect of transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS) on PAWS and plasma brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), and leptin levels in patients with alcohol dependency. A total of 114 patients with alcohol dependence were randomly divided into two groups: the treatment group and the control group. The patients in the treatment group were treated with taVNS of the bilateral auricular concha using an ear vagus nerve stimulator. The Pennsylvania Alcohol Craving Scale was used to evaluate the extent of craving for alcohol. The Self-Rating Anxiety Scale and Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS) were used to evaluate the extent of anxiety and depression symptoms, respectively. The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) was used to assess sleep quality. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was used to measure plasma BDNF, IL-6, TNF-α, and leptin levels. The results showed that the SDS and PSQI scores were significantly lower in the treatment group than in the control group. Moreover, compared with the control group, the average BDNF levels in the treatment group were significantly increased. These results suggest that taVNS could improve the depression symptoms and sleep quality in alcohol-dependent patients after withdrawal, which might be related to the upregulation of plasma BDNF levels. Frontiers Media S.A. 2021-08-30 /pmc/articles/PMC8437143/ /pubmed/34526917 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2021.678594 Text en Copyright © 2021 Wang, Xu, Zhai, Wu, Huang, Liang, Sun and Xu. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
spellingShingle Psychiatry
Wang, Yong-Mei
Xu, Ya-Yun
Zhai, Yi
Wu, Qian-Qian
Huang, Wen
Liang, Yan
Sun, Yan-Hong
Xu, Lian-Yin
Effect of Transcutaneous Auricular Vagus Nerve Stimulation on Protracted Alcohol Withdrawal Symptoms in Male Alcohol-Dependent Patients
title Effect of Transcutaneous Auricular Vagus Nerve Stimulation on Protracted Alcohol Withdrawal Symptoms in Male Alcohol-Dependent Patients
title_full Effect of Transcutaneous Auricular Vagus Nerve Stimulation on Protracted Alcohol Withdrawal Symptoms in Male Alcohol-Dependent Patients
title_fullStr Effect of Transcutaneous Auricular Vagus Nerve Stimulation on Protracted Alcohol Withdrawal Symptoms in Male Alcohol-Dependent Patients
title_full_unstemmed Effect of Transcutaneous Auricular Vagus Nerve Stimulation on Protracted Alcohol Withdrawal Symptoms in Male Alcohol-Dependent Patients
title_short Effect of Transcutaneous Auricular Vagus Nerve Stimulation on Protracted Alcohol Withdrawal Symptoms in Male Alcohol-Dependent Patients
title_sort effect of transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation on protracted alcohol withdrawal symptoms in male alcohol-dependent patients
topic Psychiatry
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8437143/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34526917
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2021.678594
work_keys_str_mv AT wangyongmei effectoftranscutaneousauricularvagusnervestimulationonprotractedalcoholwithdrawalsymptomsinmalealcoholdependentpatients
AT xuyayun effectoftranscutaneousauricularvagusnervestimulationonprotractedalcoholwithdrawalsymptomsinmalealcoholdependentpatients
AT zhaiyi effectoftranscutaneousauricularvagusnervestimulationonprotractedalcoholwithdrawalsymptomsinmalealcoholdependentpatients
AT wuqianqian effectoftranscutaneousauricularvagusnervestimulationonprotractedalcoholwithdrawalsymptomsinmalealcoholdependentpatients
AT huangwen effectoftranscutaneousauricularvagusnervestimulationonprotractedalcoholwithdrawalsymptomsinmalealcoholdependentpatients
AT liangyan effectoftranscutaneousauricularvagusnervestimulationonprotractedalcoholwithdrawalsymptomsinmalealcoholdependentpatients
AT sunyanhong effectoftranscutaneousauricularvagusnervestimulationonprotractedalcoholwithdrawalsymptomsinmalealcoholdependentpatients
AT xulianyin effectoftranscutaneousauricularvagusnervestimulationonprotractedalcoholwithdrawalsymptomsinmalealcoholdependentpatients