Effect of Herbal-cake-separated Moxibustion on the Expression of Vascular Endothelial Cellular Adhesion Molecule in Rabbits with Hyperlipemia with Concomitant Aterosclerosis

Objective: To observe the effect of herbal-cake-separated moxibustion on the expression of vascular cell adhesion molecule (VCAM)-1 in hyperlipemia (HLP) rabbits with concomitant aterosclerosis (AS) so as to explore the mechanism of moxibustion in improving HLP. Methods: Seventy-five New Zealand species rabbits were divided into control (n=13), model (n=14), direct-moxibustion (n=14), herbal-cake-separated moxibustion (n=14), and medication (“Xuezhikang”, a herbal drug for lowering blood lipid, n=13) groups. HLP with AS model was established by using immunologic injury method and high-fat forage feeding. Moxibustion was applied to “Juque” (CV 14), “Tianshu” (ST 25), “Xinshu” (BL 15), “Ganshu”(BL 18), etc. 30 min every acupoint, once daily, continuously for 6 weeks. The expression of VCAM-1 mRNA in the aorta wall was assayed with reversed transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) technique. Results: Compared with control group, the expression of VCAM-1 mRNA in model group was up-regulated significantly(P0.01); while in comparison with model group, VCAM-1 mRNA expression in herbal-cake-separated moxibustion, direct-moxibustion and medication groups was down-regulated obviously(P0.01), suggesting a favorable regulation of the 3 methods on VCAM-1 mRNA expression. No significant difference was found among the 3 treatment groups (P0.05). Conclusion: Moxibustion can down-regulate HLP-induced enhancement of VCAM-1 mRNA expression, which likely contributes to its effect in delaying the development of aortic endothelial AS in rabbits with HLP combined with AS.