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Moxibustion treatment restoring the intestinal epithelium barrier in rats with Crohn’s disease by down-regulating tumor necrosis factor alpha, tumor necrosis factor receptor 1, and tumor necrosis factor receptor 2

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Abstract

Objective

To investigate whether moxibustion regulates tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), tumor necrosis factor receptor 1 (TNFR1), and TNFR2 in the intestinal mucosa and to explore whether moxibustion could be used by means of this mechanism, to repair the intestinal epithelium barrier disruption in Crohn’s disease (CD).

Methods

The CD rat models were established by trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid (TNBs), randomly divided into a model control (MC) group, an herb-partition moxibustion (HPM) group, a mild-warm moxibustion (MWM) group, and a salicylazosulfapyridine (SASP) group, and all were compared with a normal control (NC) group. The HPM and MWM groups were treated by moxibustion at Tianshu (ST25) and Qihai (RN6) for 14 days, and the SASP group obtained the SASP solution orally for the same period of time. The intestinal epithelium morphology and TNF-α, TNFR1, and TNFR2 contents were observed by the transmission electron microscopy and enzyme linked immunosorbent assay.

Results

The severity of morphological changes in CD intestinal epithelium was obviously improved, and the levels of TNF-α, TNFR1, and TNFR2 in the intestinal mucosa all significantly decreased in the HPM and MWM groups. However, there were no significant differences between the HPM and MWM groups.

Conclusion

The moxibustion therapies (HPM and MWM) could reduce intestinal inflammation and restore intestinal epithelium barrier disruption in CD, which might be due to down-regulating TNF-α, TNFR1, and TNFR2 in intestinal mucosa and improving intestinal epithelium morphology.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Shanghai Institute of Acupuncture-Moxibustion and Meridians, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, 200030, China

    Yin Shi  (施 茵), En-hua Zhou  (周恩华), Huan-gan Wu  (吴焕淦), Ci-li Zhou  (周次利), Qian-yao Wang  (王乾瑶) & Li Qi  (戚 莉)

  2. Department of Mechanics and Engineering Science, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200433, China

    En-hua Zhou  (周恩华)

Authors
  1. Yin Shi  (施 茵)
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  2. En-hua Zhou  (周恩华)
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  3. Huan-gan Wu  (吴焕淦)
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  4. Ci-li Zhou  (周次利)
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  5. Qian-yao Wang  (王乾瑶)
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  6. Li Qi  (戚 莉)
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Huan-gan Wu  (吴焕淦).

Additional information

Supported by National Basic Research Program of China (973 Program, No. 2009CB522900), National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 30772831), and the Open Fund of Key Laboratory of Acupuncture Combined with Medication (Najing University of Traditional Chinese Medicine), Ministry of Education (Grant No. KJA200809)

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Shi, Y., Zhou, Eh., Wu, Hg. et al. Moxibustion treatment restoring the intestinal epithelium barrier in rats with Crohn’s disease by down-regulating tumor necrosis factor alpha, tumor necrosis factor receptor 1, and tumor necrosis factor receptor 2. Chin. J. Integr. Med. 17, 212–217 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11655-011-0669-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11655-011-0669-3

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