Objective To observe the influence of herbal cake-separated moxibustion on the contents of 5-hydroxy tryptamine(5-HT)

dopamine(DA)and norepinephrine(NE)in the hypothalamus in rats with functional dyspepsia(FD)of syndrome of liver stagnation and spleen deficiency

so as to explore its mechanism underlying improvement of FD.Methods Sixty SD rats were randomly divided into 6groups:control

model

herbal cake-separated moxibustion

moxa-cone moxibustion

Xiaoyaosan(decoction for relieving liver stagnation)and Domperidon

with 10 rats in each group.The FD model was established by applying chronic restraint stress+excessive fatigue+irregular food+tail clipping+shaking for 21 consecutive days.Moxibustion(herbal cake-separated or moxa-cone)was applied to bilateral"Ganshu"(BL 18)

"Pishu"(BL 20)and"Weishu"(BL 21)

or"Zhangmen"(LR 13)

"Qimen"(LR 14)and"Zhongwan"(CV 12)for 30 min

once daily for 14 d.For rats of the two medication groups

Xiaoyaosan[1mL(2g)/100g]and Domperidone[1mL(0.3g)/100g]were administrated by gavage

respectively.The contents of 5-HT

DA and NE in the hypothalamus tissue were detected by high performance liquid chromatography.Results The gastric empty rate was obviously lower in the model group than in the control group(P<0.01).After the treatment

the gastric empty rate in the herbal cake-separated moxibustion

moxa-cone moxibustion

Xiaoyaosan and Domperidone groups were significantly increased in comparison with the model group(P<0.01)

but there were no significant differences among the four treatment groups(P>0.05).Compared to the control group

the contents of 5-HT

DA and NE in the hypothalamus were markedly decreased in the model group(P<0.01)

while compared to the model group

the contents of hypothalamic 5-HT

DA and NE contents were significantly up-regulated in both the herbal cake-separated moxibustion and Xiaoyaosan groups(P<0.01)

rather than in the moxa-cone moxibustion and Domperidone groups(P>0.05).No significant differences were found between the herbal cake-separated moxibustion and Xioayaosan groups in increasing hypothalamic 5-HT

DA and NE levels(P>0.05).Conclusion Herbal cake-separated moxibustion can promote the gastric empty rate in FD rats

which may be associated with its effects in inhibiting stress induced decrease of hypothalamic 5-HT

DA and NE levels.