Chinese Journal of Tissue Engineering Research ›› 2024, Vol. 28 ›› Issue (27): 4390-4396.doi: 10.12307/2024.545

Previous Articles     Next Articles

Mechanism by which exercise improves inhibitory control and drug craving in methamphetamine abstinent patients

Liao Shuaixiong1, Deng Kai2, Bai Nan1, Yang Wenliang1, Wang Feng1, Hao Zongji3, Li Xueying1   

  1. 1Department of Physical Education (Sports College), Inner Mongolia University of Science and Technology, Baotou 014010, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China; 2Mianyang Xiyuan School, Mianyang 621013, Sichuan Province, China; 3Chongqing Liangjiang Yucai Middle School, Chongqing 401121, China
  • Received:2023-10-11 Accepted:2023-11-07 Online:2024-09-28 Published:2024-01-29
  • Contact: Li Xueying, Master, Department of Physical Education (Sports College), Inner Mongolia University of Science and Technology, Baotou 014010, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China
  • About author:Liao Shuaixiong, Master, Lecturer, Department of Physical Education (Sports College), Inner Mongolia University of Science and Technology, Baotou 014010, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China

Abstract: BACKGROUND: Inhibitory control and drug craving are the core elements of evaluating drug withdrawal in methamphetamine addicts, which has attracted much attention in academic circles. As we all know, in order to achieve complete abstinence from drug addiction, the key is to restore the damaged inhibition and control function of drug addicts and effectively reduce the craving for drugs.
OBJECTIVE: To systematically analyze the relationship between exercise and methamphetamine abstinence inhibitory control and drug craving, to find out an effective exercise intervention scheme that can promote methamphetamine abstinence, and to further explore the internal mechanism of exercise, in order to provide theoretical support and applied reference for the future use of exercise in drug withdrawal.
METHODS: CNKI, WanFang, VIP, Web of Science, and PubMed databases were searched for relevant literature using the keywords of “exercise, physical activity, methamphetamine, inhibitory function, craving, addiction” in Chinese and “sport*, exercise, methamphetamine, drug craving, executive function, addiction” in English. According to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, 86 documents were finally included for review.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: In terms of inhibitory control in methamphetamine abstinent individuals, either acute and long-term moderate-intensity aerobic exercise or acute high-intensity interval training can significantly improve the inhibitory control capacity of methamphetamine abstinent individuals. For long-term aerobic exercise, aerobic group exercise or full-body comprehensive exercise is more effective. If the exercise format is power cycling, it is recommended to increase the frequency of exercise intervention. In terms of the drug craving intensity in methamphetamine abstinent individuals, acute moderate-intensity aerobic exercise and resistance training, as well as long-term moderate-intensity, high-intensity, or progressive load aerobic and resistance training, can effectively reduce the drug craving in methamphetamine abstinent individuals. Exercise exerts intrinsic regulatory effects on methamphetamine-mediated addiction. Exercise can influence the expression of tyrosine hydroxylase in the brain’s ventral tegmental area, thereby stimulating the expression of dopamine receptor coupling proteins and promoting dopamine synthesis in the brain’s reward regions, thereby compensating for dopamine depletion caused by methamphetamine addiction. Furthermore, exercise can also regulate protein kinase A inhibitors, affecting the protein kinase A signaling pathway mediated by dopamine D1 receptors, by inhibiting protein kinase A, thus affecting cAMP response element-binding protein and regulating methamphetamine addiction. Additionally, exercise can also, at the genetic level, affect the expression of the c-fos gene in the brain’s nucleus accumbens region, activate a subset of glutamatergic neurons in this area, generate a rewarding effect, and thus improve methamphetamine addiction. Although current research has confirmed the relationship between exercise and methamphetamine addiction and has clarified the brain mechanisms underlying the effects of exercise, whether there are other brain regulatory pathways for the effects of exercise remains to be explored through more scientifically rigorous animal or human experiments, starting from the cellular or molecular level.

Key words: exercise, methamphetamine, addiction, inhibitory control, drug craving, treatment, neuroplasticity, dopamine, glutamate, ventral tegmental area

CLC Number: