Objective Our previous study demonstrated that moxibustion could promote skin wound healing in rats with full-thickness cutaneous wounds.The present study was designed to observe the effect of moxibustion on the levels of pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines

and proliferation of vascular endothelial cells

so as to explore its mechanisms underlying facilitating wound-healing.Methods A total of 84 adult SD male rats were randomly assigned to normal(n=6)

model(n=39)and moxibustion(n=39)groups.The skin wound model was established by removal of a piece of full-thickness skin from the median line of the rats' back(about 2 cm below the shoulder blade).Moxibustion was applied to the surrounding area of the focus for25 min

once daily for 6 days.The blood samples were collected at day 1

2

3 and 5 after modeling for assaying serum contents of IL-1α

IL-1β

IL-6

IL-4

IL-10

IL-13

granulocyte-colony stimulating factor(G-CSF)

granulocyte macrophagecolony stimulating factor(GM-CSF

an inflammatory mediator)

macrophage inhibitory protein-1α(MIP-1α)and vascular endothelial growth factor(VEGF)with liquid chip methods

and the topical wound tissues were collected after trans-cardiac perfusion with 4% paraformaldehyde solution for detecting the expression of CD31 proteins by using immunofluorescence staining.Results After modeling and in comparison with the model group

the contents of serum IL-1αand IL-6 at the 1 st day were significantly increased(P<0.05)

but notably decreased at the 3 rd day after modeling in the moxibustion group(P<0.05).The contents of serum IL-1βon day 1 and 2 were significantly higher in the moxibustion group than those of the model group(P<0.05).After moxibustion

the contents of serum IL-4 and IL-10 were significantly up-regulated on day 1 after modeling(P<0.05)

and obviously down-regulated from the 3 rd day on(P<0.05).The contents of serum MIP-1αon the 2 nd day and serum VEGF on day 1 and 2

and wound-skin VEGF on day 5 were obviously up-regulated in the moxibustion group in comparison with the model group(P<0.05

P<0.01).Conclusion Moxibustion promotes the inflammatory response by regulating the levels of both pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines in the early phase of skin wounds in rats

which may be in favor of the transformation from the inflammatory phase to the proliferation phase in advance

promoting wound healing at last.