Moxibustion Strategies for Mice

The field of moxibustion research is expanding, with a rapid increase in publications in recent years. Moxibustion is a therapy that ignites moxa on the ...

Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine

Knee osteoarthritis is a common form of arthritis in elderly patients that is characterised by pain and functional limitation. Moxibustion has been employed to relieve chronic pain as an alternative therapy for knee osteoarthritis. However, the evidence of its efficacy is equivocal due to the low methodological quality in most clinical studies. Therefore, we are performing a double-blinded, double-placebo, randomised controlled trial to evaluate the efficacy of moxibustion in participants with knee osteoarthritis.

Moxibustion versus diclofenac sodium gel for the treatment of knee osteoarthritis: a study protocol for a double-blinded, double-placebo, randomised controlled trial.

Conventional moxibustion is a representative non-drug intervention in traditional Chinese medicine, and it has been reported to produce encouraging results and benefits in relieving symptoms and improving the quality of life for patients with knee osteoarthritis (KOA) in previous clinical trials and systematic reviews. Given that increasing concerns on the safety of generated smoke from conventional moxibustion have received much attention, smoke-free moxibustion is regarded as a potential alternative. However, whether smoke-free moxibustion would display a similar efficacy to that of conventional moxibustion still remains unclear. Therefore, this randomized controlled trial attempts to investigate the difference of efficacy between conventional moxibustion and smoke-free moxibustion in patients with KOA.

Comparison of the efficacy between conventional moxibustion and smoke-free moxibustion on knee osteoarthritis: study protocol of a randomized controlled trial.

The aim of this study was to determine whether variation of temperature during moxibustion would generate division of analgesic effect. The moxibustion with different temperatures (37°C, 42°C, 47°C, and 52°C) was applied to ST36 acupoint for 30 minutes in chronic inflammatory or neuropathic pain mice. The analgesic effect was evaluated by thermal hyperalgesia test in chronic inflammatory pain and by mechanical allodynia in neuropathic pain, respectively. The results indicated that interventions of moxibustion with different temperature caused different analgesic effect on either chronic inflammatory induced by injection of complete Freund's adjuvant (CFA) or neuropathic pain induced by spared nerve injury (SNI). In chronic inflammatory pain, different moxibustion temperature generated different intensity of analgesic effect: the higher the better. In chronic neuropathic pain, stronger analgesic effect was found in moxibustion with temperature 47°C or 52°C other than 37°C and 42°C. However, there is no significant difference displayed between moxibustion temperatures 47°C and 52°C or 37°C and 42°C. It implies that the temperature should be taken into account for moxibustion treatment to chronic inflammatory or neuropathic pain.

Analgesic Effect of Moxibustion with Different Temperature on Inflammatory and Neuropathic Pain Mice: A Comparative Study.

The aim of this study was to investigate whether contralateral moxibustion would generate a similar analgesic effect with ipsilateral moxibustion. Contra- and ipsilateral moxibustion were separately applied to Zusanli (ST36) acupoints of inflammatory pain mice. The analgesic effect was evaluated, respectively, by licking/biting time (LBT) of formalin-induced inflammatory pain and thermal withdrawal latency (TWL) of complete Freund's adjuvant- (CFA-) induced inflammatory pain. For formalin-induced pain, compared with formalin group, the total LBT of ipsi- and contralateral moxibustion reduced in both phase I and phase II, but there was no significant difference between ipsi- and contralateral moxibustion. For CFA-induced inflammatory pain, compared with CFA group, TWL of ipsi- and contra-Moxi groups increased immediately after moxibustion intervention; however there was no obvious difference between ipsi- and contralateral moxibustion at any timepoint. It indicated that contralateral moxibustion had a similar analgesic effect with ipsilateral moxibustion in both formalin- and CFA-induced pain. These results suggest that both ipsi- and contralateral moxibustion could be applied for pain relief.

Ipsi- and Contralateral Moxibustion Generate Similar Analgesic Effect on Inflammatory Pain.

The aim of this study was to investigate the difference of efficacy between conventional moxibustion (CM) and smoke-free moxibustion (SM) for patients with osteoarthritis of the knee (KOA).

Comparison of the Efficacy between Conventional Moxibustion and Smoke-Free Moxibustion on Knee Osteoarthritis: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Acupuncture therapy is frequently used to treat Knee Osteoarthritis (KOA) in clinic, and usually used local acupoints near the diseased knees as therapeutic targets. Some local acupoints appeared sensitization phenomenon which was called sensitized acupoints, which were regarded as important therapeutic targets to get better therapeutic effect on clinic. Therefore, it is necessary to explore the biological basis of acupoint sensitization. Meanwhile, there is a lack of an analysis of the metabolism for sensitized acupoints in KOA patients. Considering that acupuncture effect could be multi-targeted, omics (such as metabolomics) may be a useful method to reveal the relationship between sensitized acupoints and clinical efficacy of acupuncture.

Metabolic profiling of dialysate at sensitized acupoints in knee osteoarthritis patients: A study protocol.

Many cancer patients experience gastrointestinal adverse reaction during chemotherapy. Pharmacological interventions are commonly used to treat chemotherapy-induced gastrointestinal side effects but have various limitations. Clinical trials have indicated that moxibustion may alleviate gastrointestinal dysfunction and improve quality of life (QoL) after chemotherapy. This study aims to assess the efficacy and safety of moxibustion for chemotherapy-induced gastrointestinal adverse reaction through a systematic review and meta-analysis.

The efficacy and safety of moxibustion for chemotherapy-induced gastrointestinal adverse reaction: A protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis.

Protein-tyrosine phosphatase 1B (PTP1B) has been considered as a promising target for treating insulin resistance. In searching for naturally occurring PTB1B antagonists, two new pimarane diterpenoids, named 2α-hydroxy-7-oxo-pimara-8(9),15-diene () and 19-hydroxy-2α-acetoxy-7-oxo-pimara-8(9),15-diene (), were isolated from the seeds of . Their structures were determined by extensive analysis of NMR and HR-ESIMS data, and their absolute configurations were determined by electronic circular dichroism (ECD) spectra. Compound  was disclosed as a competitive inhibitor of PTP1B with an IC (the half-maximal inhibitory concentration) value of 19.44 ± 2.39 µM and a i (inhibition constant) value of 13.69 ± 2.72 μM. Moreover, compound  dose-dependently promoted insulin-stimulated glucose uptake in C2C12 myotubes through activating insulin signaling pathway. Compound  might be further developed as an insulin sensitizer.

Pimarane Diterpenoids from the Seeds of  as PTP1B Inhibitors and Insulin Sensitizers.

Manganese chloride (MnCl) has been shown to inhibit the Yes-associated protein (YAP) in high-fat diet-fed ApoE mice. Although YAP has been implicated in atherogenesis, there are limited data on the effects of MnCl on cardiac remodeling. In this study, we discovered, by electrocardiography, that hyperlipidemia led to spontaneous supraventricular arrhythmia (SVA) in ApoE (KO) mice, with 3 of 9 KO + MnCl mice (33%) exhibiting lower incidence of spontaneous SVA than KO mice (6 of 10 mice, 60%). Echocardiography revealed that reduced systolic function in KO mice was reversed by MnCl treatment. Oil Red O staining of the aortas and biochemical analysis of lipid levels showed that MnCl inhibited plaque formation in a lipid metabolism-independent manner. MnCl inhibited inflammatory cell infiltration and reduced fibrosis, as evidenced by hematoxylin and eosin, immunohistochemical and Masson's trichrome staining, respectively. Our findings demonstrate that spontaneous SVA and reduced systolic function were blocked by MnCl. Our findings show that MnCl was useful in delaying cardiac remodeling and reducing susceptibility to spontaneous SVA in a mouse model of hyperlipidemia.

Oral administration of MnCl attenuated hyperlipidemia-related cardiac remodeling in ApoE mice.

The therapeutic effect of grain-sized moxibustion (GS-Moxi) on inflammatory pain has been well recognized clinically, but the mechanism remains unclear. STIM1/ORAI1 is a sensible temperature channel, therefore; this study aimed to investigate the analgesic effect of GS-Moxi and the association with STIM1/ORAI1 expression. CFA-induced inflammatory pain model was established and was treated with GS-Moxi after 3 days of CFA injection. The behavioral test was measured after the GS-Moxi; then, serum was prepared for IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α, and the stimulated skin was used for measuring STIM1 and ORAI1 expression. The results indicated GS-Moxi had an analgesic effect on inflammatory pain and the heat variation was significant for the analgesia. GS-Moxi decreased the expression of IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α. Immunofluorescence and western blot analysis illustrated that heat change was associated with the stimulation of STIM1 and ORAI1. Suggesting that heat variation created by GS-Moxi could be crucial in this therapy and STIM1 and ORAI1 were potential enhancers in regulating analgesia of GS-Moxi.

Article	Year
Moxibustion versus diclofenac sodium gel for the treatment of knee osteoarthritis: a study protocol for a double-blinded, double-placebo, randomised controlled trial. BMJ open\| PubMed ID: 28404609	2017
Comparison of the efficacy between conventional moxibustion and smoke-free moxibustion on knee osteoarthritis: study protocol of a randomized controlled trial. Trials\| PubMed ID: 28438185	2017
Analgesic Effect of Moxibustion with Different Temperature on Inflammatory and Neuropathic Pain Mice: A Comparative Study. Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM\| PubMed ID: 29234396	2017
Ipsi- and Contralateral Moxibustion Generate Similar Analgesic Effect on Inflammatory Pain. Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM\| PubMed ID: 30867668	2019
Comparison of the Efficacy between Conventional Moxibustion and Smoke-Free Moxibustion on Knee Osteoarthritis: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM\| PubMed ID: 31001350	2019
Metabolic profiling of dialysate at sensitized acupoints in knee osteoarthritis patients: A study protocol. Medicine\| PubMed ID: 31702640	2019
The efficacy and safety of moxibustion for chemotherapy-induced gastrointestinal adverse reaction: A protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis. Medicine\| PubMed ID: 32871961	2020
Pimarane Diterpenoids from the Seeds of as PTP1B Inhibitors and Insulin Sensitizers. Molecules (Basel, Switzerland)\| PubMed ID: 33066298	2020
Oral administration of MnCl attenuated hyperlipidemia-related cardiac remodeling in ApoE mice. Journal of pharmacological sciences\| PubMed ID: 33451751	2021
The role of STIM1/ORAI1 channel in the analgesic effect of grain-sized moxibustion on inflammatory pain mice model. Life sciences\| PubMed ID: 34102196	2021

Peng Lv

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