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Effect of moxibustion at Feishu (BL 13) on airway inflammation in asthma model rats

艾灸肺俞对哮喘模型大鼠气道炎症的影响

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Abstract

Objective

To observe the effect of moxibustion at Feishu (BL 13) on related inflammatory cells and inflammatory factors in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid of asthma model rats, and to explore the mechanism of moxibustion in treating asthma.

Methods

A total of 48 Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were randomly divided into a normal group, a model group, a moxibustion group and a medication group, with 12 rats in each group. Except for the normal group, the rats in the other three groups were subjected to ovalbumin sensitization to stimulate the asthma. At the same time, rats in the moxibustion group received moxibustion at bilateral Feishu (BL 13), and rats in the medication group received dexamethasone by intragastric administration. Rats in the normal and the model groups only received the same fixation and normal saline by intragastric administration. After the interventions, the inspiratory resistance, the expiratory resistance, and the pulmonary compliance were measured for rats in each group; the numbers of the inflammatory cells in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid were counted; the levels of the involved inflammatory factors in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid were detected; the pathological morphologies of the lung tissues were observed under light microscope.

Results

After modeling, compared with the normal group, the rats in the model group showed obvious asthma attack-like response, significantly increased inspiratory resistance and expiratory resistance (both P<0.01), and significantly reduced pulmonary compliance (P<0.01); thickened tracheal wall and the narrowed tracheal lumen observed under the light microscope; infiltration of inflammatory cells and increased eosinophils in and around the tracheal wall; significantly increased total number of inflammatory cells and proportion of eosinophils in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (all P<0.01); significantly reduced levels of interleukin (IL)-10, IL-12 and interferon (IFN)-γ (all P<0.01), and significantly increased levels of IL-4, IL-5 and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α (all P<0.01) in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid. After intervention, compared with the model group, rats in the moxibustion and the medication groups showed significantly reduced asthma-like reaction, pathological morphological damage of lung tissue, inspiratory resistance and expiratory resistance (all P<0.01); significantly increased pulmonary compliance (P<0.01); significantly reduced total number of inflammatory cells, proportion of eosinophils, levels of IL-4, IL-5 and TNF-α in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (P<0.05 or P<0.01), while significantly increased IL-12 and IFN-y levels (all P<0.01) in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid; rats in the medication group also showed a significantly reduced IL-10 level in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (P<0.01); there was no statistically significant difference between the moxibustion and the medication groups (all P>0.05).

Conclusion

Both moxibustion at Feishu (BL 13) and intragastric administration of dexamethasone can improve the asthma attack-like symptoms of ovalbumin-sensitized rats; regulating the inflammatory cell numbers and the inflammatory factor contents in the lung may be one mechanism of moxibustion in treating asthma.

摘要

目的

观察艾灸肺俞对哮喘模型大鼠肺泡灌洗液中相关炎性细胞、 炎性因子的影响, 探讨艾灸治疗哮喘 的作用机制.

方法

将48只Sprague-Dawley (SD)大鼠随机分为正常组、 模型组、 艾灸组和药物组, 每组12只. 除 正常组外, 其余三组大鼠采用卵清蛋白致敏并激发的方法制备哮喘模型大鼠, 激发的同时艾灸组接受艾灸双侧肺俞治疗, 药物组接受地塞米松灌胃治疗, 正常组和模型组仅予以相同的固定和生理盐水灌胃.干预结束后, 测定各组大鼠的吸气阻力、呼气阻力和肺通气顺应性, 计数肺泡灌洗液中炎性细胞的数量, 并检测相关炎性因子的含量, 光镜下进行肺组织病理形态学观察.

结果

造模后, 与正常组比较, 模型组大鼠表现出明显的哮喘发作样反应, 吸气阻力和呼气阻力均显著增高(均P<0.01), 肺通气顺应性显著降低(P<0.01); 光镜下可见大鼠气管壁增厚, 管腔狭窄, 气管壁及其周围可见炎性细胞浸润, 嗜酸性粒细胞增多; 肺泡灌洗液中炎性细胞总数及嗜酸性粒 细胞比例均显著增高(均P<0.01); 肺泡灌洗液中白细胞介素(IL)-10、IL-12及干扰素(IFN)-γ的含量均显著降低(均 P<0.01), IL-4、 IL-5及肿瘤坏死因子(TNF)-α的含量均显著升高(均P<0.01).干预后, 与模型组相比, 艾灸组和药物 组大鼠的哮喘发作样反应和肺组织病理形态学损伤均显著减轻, 吸气阻力和呼气阻力均显著降低(均P<0.01), 肺 通气顺应性显著增高(P<0.01), 肺泡灌洗液中炎性细胞总数及嗜酸性粒细胞比例均显著降低(P<0.05或P<0.01), 肺泡灌洗液中IL-12及IFN-γ的含量均显著增加(均P<0.01), IL-4、 IL-5及TNF-α的含量均显著降低(P<0.05或P<0.01); 药物组大鼠肺泡灌洗液中IL-10的含量也显著降低(P<0.01); 艾灸组与药物组各项目差异均无统计学意义(均 P>0.05).

结论

艾灸肺俞及地塞米松灌胃均可改善卵清蛋白致敏大鼠的哮喘发作症状; 调节肺部炎性细胞数量及炎性因子的含量可能是作用机制之一.

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Acknowledgments

This work was sponsored by National Basic Research Program of China (973 Program, 国家重点基础研究发展 计划项目, No. 2015CB554502); National Natural Science F oundation of China (国家自然科学基金项目, No. 81603705, No. 81774438); the 61st Batch Project of China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (中国博士后科学基金第 61 批面上资助项目, No. 2107M612567); Hunan Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China (湖南省自 然科学基金项目, No. 2017JJ3245, No. 2017JJ3243); The Key Project of Hunan Province Education Office (湖南省 教育厅重点项目, No. 18A223).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Acupuncture, Moxibustion & Tuina, Hunan University of Chinese Medicine, Changsha, 410208, China

    Guo-shan Zhang  (张国山), Chi Zhang  (张驰) & Mi Liu  (刘密)

  2. The First Hospital of Hunan University of Chinese Medicine, Changsha, 410007, China

    Ran-ran Qiu  (邱冉冉) & Jiang Pan  (潘江)

  3. Hengyang Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Hengyang, 421001, China

    Guo-shan Zhang  (张国山), Jian Zhang  (张建) & Cheng-xi Wang  (王诚喜)

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  1. Guo-shan Zhang  (张国山)
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Correspondence to Cheng-xi Wang  (王诚喜) or Mi Liu  (刘密).

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Author: Zhang Guo-shan, M.D., lecturer

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Zhang, Gs., Qiu, Rr., Pan, J. et al. Effect of moxibustion at Feishu (BL 13) on airway inflammation in asthma model rats. J. Acupunct. Tuina. Sci. 18, 165–173 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11726-020-1175-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11726-020-1175-y

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