Li Qingling, Wang Wei, Ma Qiang, Xia Ran, Gao Bing, Zhu Guoqi, Wang Jing
Graduate School, Anhui University of Chinese Medicine, Hefei 230012, China.
School of Chinese Medicine, Anhui University of Chinese Medicine, Hefei 230012, China.
Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2021 Feb 2;2021:6635876. doi: 10.1155/2021/6635876. eCollection 2021.
How moxibustion improves chronic heart failure is extremely complex and still unclear. This study aimed to explore whether moxibustion inhibits autophagy and reduces inflammation by regulating mTOR expression to induce myocardial protective effects and alleviate symptoms associated with chronic heart failure. Echocardiography was used to detect cardiac function and cardiac structure of rats, including heart rate (HR), left atrium diameter (LA), left ventricular diameter (LV), left ventricular posterior wall (LVPW), interventricular septum (IVS), ejection fraction (EF), and fractional shortening (FS). BNP and NT-pro BNP levels were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Autophagy-associated protein (ATG) genes and mTOR were detected by PCR. The expression of mTOR and phosphorylated-mTOR was detected through western blotting of proteins from myocardial tissue samples. The left ventricular inflammatory response was detected by immunohistochemistry and included ICAM-1, VCAM-1, MMP-2, and MMP-9 expression. The relationship between autophagy and inflammation was analyzed by correlation analysis. The results from echocardiography and ELISA showed that moxibustion could significantly improve heart function and structure. Western blot and PCR results showed that moxibustion treatment elevated mTOR expression. Further, moxibustion could inhibit autophagy and regulate the expression of key autophagy-related genes, including Vps34, ATG3, ATG5, ATG7, ATG12, and ATG13. By contrast, rapamycin could partially reduce the effects of moxibustion. Immunohistochemistry results indicated that moxibustion could reduce myocardial inflammation. Moreover, there was a positive correlation between autophagy and inflammation. Moxibustion can protect cardiac function in rats with heart failure, possibly inhibiting excessive autophagy of cardiomyocytes and reducing inflammatory reactions through the elevation of mTOR expression.
艾灸改善慢性心力衰竭的机制极为复杂，目前仍不明确。本研究旨在探讨艾灸是否通过调节mTOR表达来抑制自噬并减轻炎症，从而诱导心肌保护作用并缓解慢性心力衰竭相关症状。采用超声心动图检测大鼠的心功能和心脏结构，包括心率（HR）、左心房内径（LA）、左心室内径（LV）、左心室后壁（LVPW）、室间隔（IVS）、射血分数（EF）和缩短分数（FS）。通过酶联免疫吸附测定（ELISA）测量BNP和NT-pro BNP水平。通过PCR检测自噬相关蛋白（ATG）基因和mTOR。通过对心肌组织样本蛋白质进行蛋白质印迹法检测mTOR和磷酸化mTOR的表达。通过免疫组织化学检测左心室炎症反应，包括ICAM-1、VCAM-1、MMP-2和MMP-9的表达。通过相关性分析分析自噬与炎症之间的关系。超声心动图和ELISA结果表明，艾灸可显著改善心功能和心脏结构。蛋白质印迹法和PCR结果表明，艾灸治疗可提高mTOR表达。此外，艾灸可抑制自噬并调节关键自噬相关基因的表达，包括Vps34、ATG3、ATG5、ATG7、ATG12和ATG13。相比之下，雷帕霉素可部分降低艾灸的作用。免疫组织化学结果表明，艾灸可减轻心肌炎症。此外，自噬与炎症之间存在正相关。艾灸可保护心力衰竭大鼠的心功能，可能是通过提高mTOR表达来抑制心肌细胞的过度自噬并减轻炎症反应。
