Nephrology Division, Department of Medicine, Federal University of São Paulo (UNIFESP), São Paulo, Brazil.
Kidney Blood Press Res. 2012;35(5):355-64. doi: 10.1159/000336095. Epub 2012 Apr 3.
BACKGROUND/AIM: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is an increasing major public health problem worldwide. The sympathetic nervous system and nitric oxide play an important role in the pathogenesis of CKD. Traditional Chinese medicine has accumulated thousands of years of therapeutic experiences. Electroacupuncture (EA) and moxibustion (MO) are two such therapeutic strategies. The aim of this study was to investigate the renal and hemodynamic effects of EA-MO in an experimental model of a CKD.
Male Wistar rats submitted to 5/6th nephrectomy (5/6 NX) were studied for 8 weeks. There were four groups: (1) control, normal rats; (2) NX, 5/6 NX only; (3) NX-AS, 5/6 NX and EA-MO session using sham points, and (4) NX-AM, 5/6 NX and EA-MO session using real acupoints. Biochemical and blood pressure studies, renal sympathetic nerve activity measurements, nitric oxide levels and the histopathological indices were assessed.
The EA- and MO-treated group presented significant improvement in all measured functional and histopathological parameters.
These findings suggest that EA-MO had beneficial effects on CKD. This effect was probably achieved by the modulation of the renal sympathetic nerve activity and nitric oxide levels, leading to decreased blood pressure, which is associated with less proteinuria.
背景/目的：慢性肾脏病（CKD）是全球日益严重的主要公共卫生问题。交感神经系统和一氧化氮在 CKD 的发病机制中起重要作用。中医药积累了几千年的治疗经验。电针（EA）和艾灸（MO）是两种治疗策略。本研究旨在探讨 EA-MO 在 CKD 实验模型中的肾脏和血液动力学作用。
雄性 Wistar 大鼠接受 5/6 肾切除术（5/6NX），研究 8 周。有四个组：（1）对照组，正常大鼠；（2）NX，5/6NX 仅；（3）NX-AS，5/6NX 和 EA-MO 会话使用假穴位，和（4）NX-AM，5/6NX 和 EA-MO 会话使用真实穴位。评估生化和血压研究、肾交感神经活性测量、一氧化氮水平和组织病理学指标。
接受 EA 和 MO 治疗的组在所有测量的功能和组织病理学参数方面均有显著改善。
这些发现表明，EA-MO 对 CKD 有有益的影响。这种作用可能是通过调节肾交感神经活性和一氧化氮水平来实现的，从而降低血压，与蛋白尿减少有关。
