Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai 201203, China.
Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2013;2013:379291. doi: 10.1155/2013/379291. Epub 2013 Sep 12.
THE MOXIBUSTION HAS A DUAL EFFECT OF TONIFICATION AND PURGATION IN TCM THEORIES, WHICH ARE BASED ON TWO ASPECTS: the actions of the meridian system and the roles of moxa and fire. Modern research works of the moxibustion mechanism mainly relate to the thermal effects, radiation effects, and pharmacological actions of moxa and its combustion products. Experimental results showed that moxibustion thermal stimulation affects both shallow and deep tissues of the skin, and the warm-heat effects of moxibustion have a close relation to the warm receptors or/and the polymodal receptor. The burning moxa radiation spectrum ranges from 0.8 to 5.6 μ m; peak is nearby 1.5 μ m, lying within the near infrared portion. There is an amazing consistency in the infrared spectrums of three types of indirect moxibustion and the unified spectrum of acupoints; all have their peaks of radiation near 10 μ m. Lots of ingredients had been identified from mugwort leaves and moxa smoke, which have a variety of biological activities; they were considered to participate in the comprehensive effects of moxibustion. Although lots of research works have been carried out and made some progress, there is still a great distance from fully understanding the mechanism of moxibustion.
艾灸在中医理论中有“补虚泻实”的双重作用，其依据有两个方面：经络系统的作用和艾绒与火的作用。艾灸作用机制的现代研究主要涉及艾灸的热效应、辐射效应和药理作用。实验结果表明，艾灸热刺激既影响皮肤的浅层组织，也影响皮肤的深层组织，艾灸的温热效应与温觉感受器或/和多模态感受器密切相关。燃烧艾绒的辐射光谱范围为 0.8 至 5.6μm，峰值在 1.5μm 附近，位于近红外部分。三种间接灸和穴位统一光谱的红外光谱惊人地一致，其辐射峰值均接近 10μm。从艾叶和艾烟中已经鉴定出许多成分，具有多种生物活性，被认为参与了艾灸的综合作用。尽管已经开展了大量的研究工作并取得了一些进展，但要完全了解艾灸的作用机制还有很长的路要走。
