Chen Yang, Li Haijun, Luo Xiaochao, Liu Huahui, Zhong Yumei, Wu Xiao, Liu Xuguang
Acupuncture and Tuina School, Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu 610075, China.
People's Hospital of Qingbaijiang District of Chengdu City, Chengdu 610300, China.
Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2019 Jan 3;2019:6436420. doi: 10.1155/2019/6436420. eCollection 2019.
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a systemic and chronic autoimmune inflammatory disease characterized by severe synovial hyperplasia associated with progressive cartilage degradation. Due to the severe pain and disability caused by RA, effective therapeutic strategies that could simultaneously alleviate the inflammatory response and delay the disease progression are urgently needed. As a major alternative therapy in traditional Chinese medicine, moxibustion has been demonstrated that it could reduce the chronic inflammatory responses of a series of musculoskeletal diseases; however, whether moxibustion has protective effects on RA is still unclear. To investigate the effects of moxibustion on RA, moxibustion was applied to Zusanli (ST36) and Shenshu (BL23) acupoints in a RA rabbit model. HE staining of articular cartilage showed that moxibustion alleviated the cartilage degradation and bone destruction. In addition, moxibustion decreased the osteoclast number in RA rabbits. Real-time PCR revealed that moxibustion decreased the expression of RANKL mRNA while increased the expression of OPG mRNA, indicating a restoration of the balance between osteogenesis and osteoclastogenesis. Taken together, our results indicated that moxibustion had promising antiarthritic effects and could be an useful alternative method in RA therapeutics.
类风湿关节炎（RA）是一种全身性慢性自身免疫性炎症性疾病，其特征为严重的滑膜增生并伴有进行性软骨降解。由于RA会导致严重疼痛和残疾，因此迫切需要能够同时减轻炎症反应并延缓疾病进展的有效治疗策略。作为中医的一种主要替代疗法，艾灸已被证明可以减轻一系列肌肉骨骼疾病的慢性炎症反应；然而，艾灸对RA是否具有保护作用仍不清楚。为了研究艾灸对RA的影响，在RA兔模型中对足三里（ST36）和肾俞（BL23）穴位进行艾灸。关节软骨的HE染色显示，艾灸减轻了软骨降解和骨质破坏。此外，艾灸减少了RA兔中的破骨细胞数量。实时PCR显示，艾灸降低了RANKL mRNA的表达，同时增加了OPG mRNA的表达，表明成骨与破骨之间的平衡得以恢复。综上所述，我们的结果表明艾灸具有良好的抗关节炎作用，可能是RA治疗中的一种有用的替代方法。
