Xiao-peng Ma

Electro-acupuncture relieves visceral sensitivity and decreases hypothalamic corticotropin-releasing hormone levels in a rat model of irritable bowel syndrome

Previous studies into electro-acupuncture (EA) treatment of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) have principally focused on the peripheral effects of EA in a rat model of IBS. It is not known whether EA exerts central effects in this rat model. We have examined the effects of EA on hypothalamic corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) levels in a rat model of IBS provoked by colorectal distension (CRD) and forelimb immobilization. EA was administered once daily to IBS model rats over a period of 7 d; untreated IBS rats and controls were also studied. The behavioral response to distension was rated according to the abdominal withdrawal reflex (AWR) score; hypothalamic CRH levels were measured by radioimmunoassay. We report that EA treatment significantly decreased visceral sensitivity to CRD in this rat model. In treated animals, EA also decreased hypothalamic CRH to control levels. Reduced hypothalamic CRH levels may mediate the beneficial effects of EA in this rat IBS model.

Warming Moxibustion Relieves Chronic Visceral Hyperalgesia in Rats: Relations to Spinal Dynorphin and Orphanin-FQ System

As a twin therapy of acupuncture in traditional Chinese medicine, moxibustion has shown its effects in relieving abdominal pain in irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) patients and IBS rat models, but its mechanisms are largely unknown. In this paper, we determined the role of spinal dynorphin and orphanin-FQ system in analgesic effect of warming moxibustion (WM) on chronic visceral hyperalgesia (CVH) in IBS-like rat model. Here, we show that (1) repeated WM at bilateral ST25 and ST37 acupoints markedly attenuated the abdominal withdrawal reflex scores in CVH rats; (2) intrathecal administration of κ receptor antagonist prior to WM significantly attenuated the WM analgesia and dynorphinA (1-17) enhanced the WM analgesia. WM significantly reinforced the upregulation of spinal dynorphin mRNA/protein and κ receptor mRNA levels in CVH rats; (3) intrathecal administration of orphanin-FQ receptor antagonist prior to WM significantly attenuated the WM analgesia and orphanin-FQ enhanced the WM analgesia. WM reinforced the upregulation of spinal orphanin-FQ mRNA/protein and orphanin-FQ receptor mRNA levels in CVH rats. These results suggest that moxibustion may relieve CVH at least in part by activating spinal dynorphin and orphanin-FQ system.

Effect of herbal-partitioned moxibustion at Tianshu (ST 25) and Qihai (CV 6) on pain-related behavior and emotion in rats with chronic inflammatory visceral pain

ObjectiveTo observe the effect of herbal-partitioned moxibustion (HPM) on pain-related behavior and emotion in a rat model of chronic inflammatory visceral pain, and to investigate the mechanism.MethodsTwenty-four male Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were randomly divided into three groups: a normal group, a model group and an HPM group. Except for the normal group, rats in the other two groups were clystered with mixed liquor of Trinitrobenzene Sulfonic Acid (TNBS) and 50% ethanol to induce the chronic inflammatory visceral pain model. After the models were established successfully, rats in the HPM group were treated with HPM at bilateral Tianshu (ST 25) and Qihai (CV 6). Rats in the normal group and the model group were only fixed as those in the HPM group without treatment. Abdominal withdrawal reflex (AWR) score, mechanical withdrawal threshold (MWT) and thermal withdrawal latency (TWL) were adopted to detect the visceral and somatic pain; meanwhile, open field test (OFT) and elevated plus maze test (EPMT) were employed to evaluate pain emotions such as depression and anxiety.ResultsCompared with the normal group, AWR scores of the model group were significantly increased under different stimulus expansion pressure level (P<0.01), MWT and TWL were significantly decreased (P<0.05); in OFT, the values of horizontal activities and vertical activities were significantly decreased (P<0.01); in EPMT, the proportion of the number of entry into the open arms (OE%) and that of residence time in the open arms (OT%) significantly decreased (P<0.01), indicating that the model was successful. Compared with the model group, the AWR score of the HPM group was decreased significantly (P<0.05), MWT and TWL were significantly increased (P<0.05), the values of horizontal activities and vertical activities in the model group were significantly increased (P<0.01); in OFT and EPMT, OE% and OT% were significantly increased (P<0.01).ConclusionHPM has analgesic effect on chronic inflammatory visceral pain. It can reduce the visceral and somatic pain in rats and markedly improve the emotions such as anxiety and depression induced by chronic visceral pain.摘要目的观察隔药灸对慢性炎性内脏痛大鼠痛行为和痛情绪的影响, 探讨其镇痛机理。方法将24只SD大鼠随机分为正常组、 模型组和隔药灸组。 除正常组外, 其余两组采用三硝基苯磺酸灌肠制备慢性炎性内脏痛大鼠模型。 造模成功后, 隔药灸组采用隔药灸天枢、 气海治疗, 模型组及正常组不治疗, 只做与隔药灸组相同的固定。 通过腹壁撤回反射(AWR)评分、 机械性缩足反射阈值(MWT)和热缩足潜伏期(TWL)评估大鼠内脏和躯体痛觉; 通过旷场实验(OFT)和高架十字迷宫测试(EPMT)评估大鼠焦虑、 抑郁等疼痛情绪。结果与正常组比较, 模型组大鼠AWR评分在不同刺激扩张压力水平下均显著升高(P<0.01), MWT及TWL均显著降低(P<0.05), OFT中水平活动值和垂直活动值均明显下降(P<0.01), EPMT中开臂进入次数比例及开臂停留时间比例均明显下降(P<0.01), 提示造模成功。 与模型组比较, 隔药灸组大鼠AWR评分显著下降(P<0.05), MWT及TWL显著增加(P<0.05), OFT中水平活动值和垂直活动值均明显升高(P<0.01), EPMT中进入开放臂次数比例及进入开放臂时间比例均明显升高(P<0.01)。结论隔药灸对慢性炎性内脏痛大鼠有良好的镇痛作用, 能显著减轻大鼠内脏和躯体疼痛, 同时也能明显改善慢性内脏痛所致的焦虑、 抑郁等痛情绪的变化。

Analgesic action of suspended moxibustion in rats with chronic visceral hyperalgesia correlates with enkephalins in the spinal cord

Rats that modeled chronic visceral hyperalgesia received suspended moxibustion at bilateral Tianshu (ST25) and Shangjuxu (ST37) once daily over a period of 7 days. Results show that suspended moxibustion significantly depressed abdominal withdrawal reflex scores and increased enkephalin concentration in the spinal cord. The experimental findings suggest that spinal enkephalins contributed to the analgesic effect of suspended moxibustion in rats with chronic visceral hyperalgesia.

Pathogenesis of inflammatory bowel disease and the action mechanism of moxibustion

摘要整理近年来炎症性肠病发病机制以及艾灸治疗炎症性肠病机制研究的相关文献, 综述炎症性肠病发病机理的研究现状以及艾灸治疗机制的研究进展, 并对进一步研究艾灸治疗炎症性肠病提出若干设想。AbstractTo organize the researches on the pathogenesis of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and the reports of moxibustion for IBD in recent years, for summarizing the current status of the pathogenesis study on IBD and the mechanism research on moxibustion for IBD, and giving suggestion to the further study on the action of moxibustion in managing this disease.

Analysis of the frequency of clinical acupoint use based on ‘Traditional Chinese Medical Acupuncture-moxibustion Information Databank’

The frequencies of use of 361 human acupoints in 74 academic journals of traditional Chinese medicine published between 1949 and 2010 are arranged in order using ‘Traditional Chinese Medical Acupuncture-moxibustion Information Databank’. The frequencies of use are divided into five grades: most frequent use, more frequent use, frequent use, less frequent use and infrequent use. The most frequently used acupoints and infrequently used acupoints are summarized and analyzed to help point selection for clinical acupuncture and selection of acupuncture research projects in the future.

Moxibustion eases chronic inflammatory visceral pain through regulating MEK, ERK and CREB in rats

AIM To investigate the effects of herb-partitioned moxibustion (HPM) on phosphorylation of mitogen-activated extracellular signal-regulated kinase (MEK)1, extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK)1/2 and cAMP response element binding protein (CREB) in spinal cord of rats with chronic inflammatory visceral pain (CIVP), and to explore the central mechanism of HPM in treating CIVP. METHODS Male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomized into normal, model, HPM, sham-HPM, MEK-inhibitor and dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) groups. The CIVP model was established using an enema mixture of trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid and ethanol. HPM was applied at bilateral Tianshu (ST25) and Qihai (CV6) acupoints in the HPM group, while in the sham-HPM group, moxa cones and herb cakes were only placed on the same points but not ignited. The MEK-inhibitor and DMSO groups received L5-L6 intrathecal injection of U0126 and 30% DMSO, respectively. Abdominal withdrawal reflex (AWR), mechanical withdrawal threshold (MWT) and thermal withdrawal latency (TWL) were applied for the assessment of pain behavior. The colonic tissue was observed under an optical microscope after hematoxylin-eosin staining. Expression of phosphor (p)MEK1, pERK1/2 and pCREB in rat spinal cord was detected using Western blotting. The levels of MEK, ERK and CREB mRNA in rat spinal cord were detected using real-time polymerase chain reaction. RESULTS Compared with the normal group, the AWR scores were increased significantly (P < 0.01) and the MWT and TWL scores were decreased significantly (P < 0.05) in the model, sham-HPM and DMSO groups. Compared with the model group, the AWR scores were decreased significantly (P < 0.01) and the MWT and TWL scores were increased significantly in the HPM and MEK-inhibitor groups (P < 0.05). Compared with the sham-HPM and DMSO groups, the AWR scores were decreased significantly (P < 0.01) and the MWT and TWL scores were increased significantly (P < 0.05) in the HPM and MEK-inhibitor groups. Compared with the normal group, the expression of pMEK1, pERK1/2 and pCREB proteins and the levels of MEK, ERK and CREB mRNA in rat spinal cord were increased significantly in the model, sham-HPM and DMSO groups (P < 0.01 or < 0.05). Compared with the model group, the expression of pMEK1, pERK1/2 and pCREB proteins and the levels of MEK, ERK and CREB mRNA in rat spinal cord were reduced significantly in the HPM and MEK-inhibitor groups (P < 0.01 or < 0.05). Compared with the sham-HPM and DMSO groups, expression of pMEK1, pERK1/2 and pCREB proteins and the levels of MEK, ERK and CREB mRNA in rat spinal cord were reduced significantly in the HPM and MEK-inhibitor groups (P < 0.01 or < 0.05). CONCLUSION HPM down-regulates protein phosphorylation of MEK1, ERK1/2 and CREB, and mRNA expression of MEK, ERK and CREB, inhibiting activation of the MEK/ERK/CREB signaling pathway in the spinal cord of CIVP rats, which is possibly a critical central mechanism of the analgesic effect of HPM.

Current situation and analysis of clinical application of auricular acupoint sticking therapy

ObjectiveBy the bibliometrical analysis and evaluation of acupuncture theses on auricular acupoint sticking from 2005 to 2014, the analysis was processed from multiple aspects including the types and numbers of diseases and effective rates of various diseases, in order to objectively reflect the general situation of clinical application of ear point embedding method in the recent years.MethodsBy the bibliometrical analysis, the literature on auricular acupoint sticking in the recent ten years was counted up, analyzed and categorized.Results and ConclusionAuricular acupoint sticking is used clinically for diseases of 16 systems, including 130 diseases. 74 diseases were singularly treated with auricular acupoint sticking, including the advantageous disease category like insomnia, constipation and obesity, and secondary advantageous disease category like dysmenorrhea, myopia, allergic rhinitis, post-operative pain and acne vulgaris.摘要目的对2005 年至2014 年间有关耳穴贴压法的针灸论文进行文献计量分析与评价, 从病症种类、数量、各病症的有效率等方面进行多方位分析, 以期客观反映近年来耳穴贴压法的临床应用概况。方法采用文献计量分析的方法, 对近10 年耳穴贴压法的文献进行统计、分析和归纳。结果和结论耳穴贴压疗法应用于临床16 个系统病症, 共涉及130 个病种。单用耳穴贴压法治疗的病种为74 个, 其中优势病种为失眠症、便秘和肥胖, 次优势病种为痛经、近视、变应性鼻炎、术后疼痛及寻常性痤疮。

Herb-Partitioned Moxibustion and the miRNAs Related to Crohn’s Disease: A Study Based on Rat Models

Crohns disease (CD) is a major subtype of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Herb-partitioned moxibustion (HPM) has been proven to be effective in treating CD by a large amount of clinical and experimental researches. MiRNAs (microRNAs) are increasingly recognized as important posttranscriptional regulators of inflammatory genes. In this study, we established experimental CD rat models and investigated the miRNAs associated with the onset of experimental CD; then, we further identified CD-related miRNAs that were regulated by HPM and explored the relationship between CD and the potential target genes of involved miRNAs. We found that miR-147 and miR-205 were significantly downregulated in colons of experimental CD rats and may be closely associated with the onset of experimental CD. HPM may extenuate inflammatory responses in colons and ameliorate colonic damages in CD via upregulating the expression of miR-147 and miR-205 and then further downregulating the expression of inflammation-related mRNAs, negatively regulating inflammatory signal pathways, and reducing the production of downstream inflammatory cytokines.

Research on acupuncture-moxibustion for dry eye syndrome

Dry eye syndrome (DES) is a commonly encountered ophthalmological disease, with a relatively high incidence, and expects an effective treatment method. Acupuncture-moxibustion therapy promotes tear production of lacrimal gland without causing a trauma, and thus has a great advantage in treating DES. Through literature analysis, this article summarized the research progress in both clinical practice and mechanism of acupuncture-moxibustion in treating DES during the recent 10 years, for providing valuable references for the application of acupuncture-moxibustion for DES.