Zhao Chen, Bao Chunhui, Li Jing, Zhu Yifang, Wang Siyao, Yang Ling, Shi Yin, Liu Huirong, Dou Chuanzi, Ding Guanghong, Wang Xiaomei, Wu Huangan
Key Laboratory of Acupuncture-Moxibustion and Immunological Effects, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai 200030, China.
Department of Acupuncture-Moxibustion, Yueyang Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai 200437, China.
Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2015;2015:938054. doi: 10.1155/2015/938054. Epub 2015 Aug 4.
Previous studies have demonstrated that acupuncture is beneficial to patients with Crohn's disease (CD), but the mechanism underlying its therapeutic effects remains unclear. To identify the mechanism by which acupuncture treats CD, the balance between Th17 and Treg cells was assessed in CD patients. In this study, Ninety-two CD patients were randomly and equally assigned to a treatment group that were treated with herb-partitioned moxibustion and acupuncture or a control group with wheat bran-partitioned moxibustion and superficial acupuncture. The effect of these treatments on Th17 and Treg cells and their related molecular markers in the intestinal mucosa were detected before (week 0) and after (week 12) treatment. The results suggested that the ratio of Th17 and Treg cells was significantly decreased after treatment and that the levels of IL-17 and RORγt in the intestinal mucosa were obviously reduced, while the expression of FOXP3 was increased after treatment in both groups. In the treatment group, the expression of these molecules was more markedly regulated than the control group. In conclusion, moxibustion and acupuncture have been shown to regulate the ratio of Th17 and Treg cells in the intestinal mucosa of CD patients and restore the balance between these immune cell subsets.
以往研究表明，针灸对克罗恩病（CD）患者有益，但其治疗效果的潜在机制仍不清楚。为了确定针灸治疗CD的机制，对CD患者体内Th17细胞和调节性T细胞（Treg）之间的平衡进行了评估。在本研究中，92例CD患者被随机平均分为两组，治疗组接受隔药饼灸和针刺治疗，对照组接受隔麦麸灸和浅刺治疗。在治疗前（第0周）和治疗后（第12周）检测这些治疗对肠道黏膜中Th17细胞、Treg细胞及其相关分子标志物的影响。结果显示，治疗后Th17细胞与Treg细胞的比例显著降低，肠道黏膜中白细胞介素-17（IL-17）和维甲酸相关孤儿受体γt（RORγt）水平明显下降，而两组治疗后叉头框蛋白P3（FOXP3）的表达均增加。治疗组中这些分子的表达比对照组调节得更明显。总之，灸法和针刺已被证明可调节CD患者肠道黏膜中Th17细胞与Treg细胞的比例，并恢复这些免疫细胞亚群之间的平衡。
