The effects of focused ultrasound pulsation of nucleus accumbens in opioid-dependent rats
Erdem Deveci, Alperen Kılıç, Onur Yılmaz, Aynur Nabi, Arif Sanlı Ergün, Ayhan Bozkurt, Ayşe Kurtulmuş, Ahmet Öztürk, Mukaddes Eşrefoğlu, Mehmet Şerif Aydın, Ebru Şahan, İsmet Kırpınar
Psychiatry and Clinical Psychopharmacology 2019 · 10.1080/24750573.2019.1631942
rodentsubstance use disorderbehaviourhistology molecular
Speciesrat (Sprague-Dawley)
Subjects9 animals
Sessions per subject10
Randomisedyes
Blindingnot reported
Sham / controlundescribed
Auditory controlnot reported
Readout timingoffline
Anaesthesiaanaesthetised
Readoutsbehaviour, histology molecular — morphine conditioned place preference; H&E; anti-MAP2, anti-JNK1 and caspase-3 immunostaining; Fluoro-Jade C
Direction of effectmixed or unclearPlace preference for the morphine-paired side rose significantly in sham rats but not in sonicated rats; LIFU did not significantly reduce preference.
Adverse eventsobservedThree US-group rats and one saline rat died during anaesthesia. Histology (H&E, MAP2, JNK1, Fluoro-Jade C) showed no tissue damage in the nucleus accumbens.
Exposures
Exposure 1: LIFU to bilateral nucleus accumbens
Target: nucleus accumbens — “nucleus accumbens”
Device: not reported · 10 channel, 2.4 MHz central frequency transducer ✓
| Waveform | not reported | |
|---|---|---|
| Fundamental frequency (kHz) | 2,400 | ✓✓✓⚑ |
| Pulse duration (ms) | not reported | |
| Pulse repetition frequency (Hz) | not reported | |
| Duty cycle (%) | not reported | |
| Sonication duration (s) | 600 | ✓✓✓ |
| Free-field pressure (kPa) | not reported | |
|---|---|---|
| Free-field Isppa (W/cm²) | not reported | |
| Free-field Ispta (W/cm²) | not reported | |
| In-situ estimate | not reported | |
| In-situ pressure (kPa) | not reported | |
| In-situ Isppa (W/cm²) | not reported | |
| In-situ Ispta (W/cm²) | not reported |
Protocol, in the paper’s words
LIFU stimulation was given for 10 min once a day for 10 days, under 1.5% isoflurane, ten minutes before morphine administration; pulse timing, PRF and duty cycle are not given in the text.
Flags from extraction
exposures[0].fundamental_frequency_khz— Legend gives a 2.4 MHz central frequency transducer, but another legend says the driver was driven at 2800 kHz; 2400 recorded.n_subjects— 9 rats per sonication group per Table 4 (18 split into LIFU and sham); 3 died, leaving 6 analysed.exposures[0].timing.protocol_description— No pulsing parameters or acoustic output stated anywhere in the text.n_sessions_per_subject— Inferred from once-a-day anaesthesia and stimulation for 10 days; sonication each day is implied, not stated outright.exposures[0].device.family— Transducers described as designed to fit the rat skull; maker not named.