Effect of warming Moxibustion on Aortic morphology and inflammatory response of Vascular Endothelial cells in rats with hyperlipemia

Objective To observe the effect of warming moxibustion on vascular endothelial morphology and inflammatory response in rats with chronic hyperlipemia and to investigate the mechanism of moxibustion protecting endothelial cells.Methods The rats were fed with fat emulsion for four weeks,causing hyperlipemia models(10mg /kg daily).Totally 48 male adult SD rats were randomly divided into 4 groups: normal control group,hyperlipemia model group,warming moxibustion group,drug treatment group.The rats of warming moxibustion group were treated with Qing Ai 10min × 1 time / day,the rats of drug treatment group were treated with suspension of lovastatin(10mg / kg daily),treatment lasted for 4 weeks.After treatment,Chromatography method was used for testing serum total cholesterol(TC),triglyceride(TG),low density lipoprotein(LDL-c),double antibody sandwich method for measuring serum interleukin-6(IL-6) interleukin-8(IL-8),tumor necrosis factor-a(TNF-a),immunohistochemistry was used to observe the expression of vascular cell adherence molecules-1(VCAM-1) in thoracic aorta.Results ①Warming moxibustion group had a good adjustment of blood lipid.The level of serum TC,LDL-c in warming moxibustion group was significantly less than that in drug treatment group(P 0.01).②Compared with hyperlipemia model group,the rats of warming moxibustion group serum IL-6,IL-8,TNF-a level and the expression of VCAM-1 in thoracic aorta was significantly decreased(P 0.01),but there was no significant difference between warming moxibustion group and drug treatment group(P 0.05).③Vascular endothelial injury of warming improved significantly compared with hyperlipemia model group,there were regular structures in the intima and media of moxibustion group.Conclusion Warming moxibustion can protect vascular endothelial cells effectively by regulating blood lipid and inhibiting the inflammatory response for preventing and treating early lesions of atherosclerosis.