School of Nursing, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai, China (mainland).
School of Nursing, Tianjin University of Chinese Medicine, Tianjin, China (mainland).
Med Sci Monit. 2021 Nov 30;27:e932885. doi: 10.12659/MSM.932885.
BACKGROUND Moxibustion therapy has been found to ameliorate clinical symptoms of functional dyspepsia (FD). We aimed to examine the regulatory effect of moxibustion on the gastrointestinal (GI) motility in FD and explore the underlying mechanism based on the hyperpolarization-activated cyclic nucleotide-gated cation channel 1 (HCN1). MATERIAL AND METHODS Moxibustion therapy was used in FD rats induced by using classic tail-pinch and irregular feeding. Weight gain and food intake were recorded weekly, followed by detecting gastric residual rate (GRR) and small intestine propulsion rate (IPR). Next, western blotting was performed to determine the expression levels of HCN1 in the gastric antrum. qRT-PCR was used to detect HCN1 in the small intestine and hypothalamic satiety center. Double immunolabeling was used for HCN1 and ICCs in gastric antrum and small intestine. RESULTS The obtained results suggested that moxibustion treatment could increase weight gain and food intake in FD rats. The GRR and IPR were compared among the groups, which showed that moxibustion treatment could decrease GRR and increase IPR. Moxibustion increased the expression of HCN1 in the gastric antrum, small intestine, and hypothalamic satiety center. Histologically, the co-expressions of HCN1 and ICCs tended to increase in gastric antrum and small intestine. Meanwhile, HCN channel inhibitor ZD7288 prevented the above-mentioned therapeutic effects of moxibustion. CONCLUSIONS The results of the present study suggest that moxibustion can effectively improve the GI motility of FD rats, which may be related to the upregulation of HCN1 expression in gastric antrum, small intestine, and satiety center.
艾灸疗法已被发现可改善功能性消化不良（FD）的临床症状。我们旨在研究艾灸对 FD 胃肠（GI）动力的调节作用，并基于超极化激活环核苷酸门控阳离子通道 1（HCN1）探索其潜在机制。
采用经典的夹尾和不规则喂养方法诱导 FD 大鼠，使用艾灸疗法。每周记录体重增加和食物摄入量，然后检测胃残留率（GRR）和小肠推进率（IPR）。接下来，进行 Western blot 以确定胃窦部 HCN1 的表达水平。使用 qRT-PCR 检测小肠和下丘脑饱食中枢的 HCN1。使用双重免疫标记法检测胃窦和小肠中的 HCN1 和 ICCs。
结果表明，艾灸治疗可增加 FD 大鼠的体重增加和食物摄入量。比较各组的 GRR 和 IPR，结果表明艾灸治疗可降低 GRR 并增加 IPR。艾灸增加了胃窦、小肠和下丘脑饱食中枢的 HCN1 表达。组织学上，胃窦和小肠中 HCN1 和 ICCs 的共表达趋于增加。同时，HCN 通道抑制剂 ZD7288 阻止了艾灸的上述治疗作用。
本研究结果表明，艾灸可有效改善 FD 大鼠的 GI 动力，这可能与胃窦、小肠和饱食中枢 HCN1 表达上调有关。
