LI Tian-ge, PU Rong, SHUI Ling, et al. Effect of moxibustion on inflammatory cytokine levels in hippocampus and hypothalamus in rats with fatigue[J]. Acupuncture research, 2019, 44(3): 195-199.
DOI:
LI Tian-ge, PU Rong, SHUI Ling, et al. Effect of moxibustion on inflammatory cytokine levels in hippocampus and hypothalamus in rats with fatigue[J]. Acupuncture research, 2019, 44(3): 195-199. DOI: 10.13702/j.1000-0607.180619.
Effect of moxibustion on inflammatory cytokine levels in hippocampus and hypothalamus in rats with fatigue
Objective To investigate the effect of moxibustion of"Zusanli"(ST36)on levels of inflammatory cytokines in the hippocampus and hypothalamus regions of rats with fatigue
so as to reveal its anti-fatigue mechanism.Methods Twentyfour male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into normal control
fatigue model
and moxibustion groups
with 8 rats in each group.The fatigue model was established by chronic weight-loaded exhaustive swimming.During modeling
the rats in the moxibustion group were given moxibustion(3 moxa cones
about 8 min in duration)at bilateral ST36
once every other day for11 times in total.The duration of exhausted swimming was observed
and ELISA was used to measure the contents of interleukin-1β(IL-1β)
interleukin-6(IL-6)
tumor necrosis factor-α(TNF-α)
and interferon gamma(IFN-γ)in the hippocampus and hypothalamus tissues.Results The duration of exhausted swimming was obviously prolonged on day 14 and 21 after moxibustion intervention relevant to the model group(P<0.05
P<0.01).The contents of IL-1β
IL-6 and TNF-αin the hippocampus were significantly increased in the model group than in the normal group(P<0.01)
and that of hippocampal IL-6 was considerably decreased in the moxibustion group than in the model group(P<0.05).The content of hippocampal IFN-γwas significantly lower in the model group than in the normal group(P<0.05)and was increased mildly after moxibustion(P>0.05).No significantly changes were found in the levels of hypothalamic IL-1β
IL-6
TNF-αand IFN-γafter modeling and moxibustion(P>0.05)
and in the levels of hippocampal IL-1β
TNF-αand IFN-γafter moxibustion(P>0.05).Conclusion Moxibustion can significantly down-regulate hippocampal IL-6 content in fatigue rats
which maybe contribute to its effect in alleviating fatigue.Further studies need being conducted to identify this conclusion.