Comparing the Efficacy of Anodal, Cathodal, and Sham Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation on Brain-derived Neurotrophic Factor and Psychological Symptoms in Opioid-addicted Patients

Basic and Clinical Neuroscience

ARTICLE

Eskandari, Zakaria¹  Dadashi, Mohsen²  Mostafavi, Hossin³  Armani Kia, Alireza⁴  Pirzeh, Reza⁴ 

[1]Department of Clinical Psychology and Addiction Studies, Faculty of Medicine, Zanjan University of Medical Sciences

[2]Department of Clinical Psychology, Social Determinants of Health Research Center, Faculty of Medicine, Zanjan University of Medical Sciences

[3]Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, Zanjan University of Medical Sciences

[4]Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Zanjan University of Medical Sciences

关键词: Transcranial direct current stimulation;    Craving;    Opioid;    Brain-derived neurotrophic factor;    Depression dorsolateral prefrontal cortex;    Anxiety;   

DOI  :  10.32598/BCN.10.6.1710.1

来源: Iran University of Medical Sciences

【 摘 要 】

Introduction:Today, addiction to opioids is a serious problem all over the world. Unfortunately, the consumption of these drugs and the number of addicted people have drastically increased. This research aimed at comparing the efficacy of anodal, cathodal, and sham transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) on the Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) and psychological symptoms in opioid-addicted patients. Methods: Thirty opioid-addicted patients were selected based on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, the Fifth Edition, through the convenience sampling method. They were then randomly assigned to 3 groups (10 in each group). The subjects were evaluated before and after tDCS by their serum level of BDNF, desires for drug questionnaire, and depression anxiety stress scale. The data were analyzed by the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, one-way analysis of variance, as well as the Bonferroni test. Results: Stimulating the Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex (DLPFC) led to a significant change in increasing the level of BDNF (P=0.031) and reducing the degree of depression (P=0.018), anxiety (P=0.001), stress (P=0.012), and decreased the level of craving (P=0.001) in opioidaddicted patients. There was no significant difference between active stimulation groups (anodal left/cathodal right and anodal right/cathodal left). The stimulation of the right DLPFC (group B) significantly increased BDNF in comparison with the sham group (sham tDCS) and decreased anxiety and craving. Nonetheless, no change was observed in depression and stress. The stimulation of the left DLPFC (group A) significantly reduced depression, anxiety, stress, and craving compared with the sham group, while there was no change in BDNF. Conclusion: In addition to the conventional treatments of opioid-addicted patients, tDCS is an effective complementary treatment.

【 授权许可】

Unknown