Study on the Action Mechanism of Moxibustion in Anti-inflammati on and Immunoregulation in Rheumatoid Arthritis Rats

In the present paper, the authors summarize their resu l ts of study on the mechanism of moxibustion of Shenshu(BL 23) and Zusanli( ST 36) for resisting inflammation and modulating immune function in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (AA) rats.1)Anti-inflammatory effect: In AA rats, afte r 3 sessions of moxibustion, the c ircumferences of the swollen ankle of BL-23 group (2.33±0.19 cm) and ST-3 6 grou p (2.35±0.11 cm) were smaller than that of control group (2.69±0.22 cm) . In de layed general polyarthritis rats of these two moxibustion groups, the number o f inflammatory nodes at the ear and tail was less than that of control group. 2) Reducing release of inflammatory mediators: Following moxibustion, the elevated contents of blood tumor necrosis factor (TNF) and IL-1 in AA rats decreased sig n ificantly compared with control group ( P 0.05). Moxibustion could also reduc e th e release of histamine and 5-HT. 3) Modulating free radical metabolism: In AA r a ts, moxibustion could reduce blood nitric oxide (NO) and malondiadehyde levels a nd raise SOD activity. 4) Regulating immunofunction: Moxibustion could cause th e endogenous IL-2 level thymus index to raise and reduce the secretion of IL-1 o f the over-excited megoxycytes and lower the spleen index in AA rats. Following removal of the adrenal gland or sympathetectomy (with 6-OHDA), the effects of m o xibustion in modulating immunofunction were weakened significantly. 5) Regulatin g central neurotransmitter level: In AA rats, following moxibustion, the elevate d NE and 5-HT contents in the hypothalamus were upregulated, while the elevated NO level was downregulated. 6) Involvement of hippocampus and pineal gland in th e effects of moxibustion: In AA rats, after injection of 6-OHDA for destruction of adrenagic nerve, the effect of moxibustion on reduction of inflammatory respo nse of the ankle was weakened. In addition, the decreased level of melatonin (MT ) of the pineal gland tissue in AA rats was raised by moxibustion. In a word, mo xibustion induced anti-inflammation and modulation of immunofunction may contri bute to its therapeutic effect in improving rheumatoid arthritis.