Huang Feng, Zhang Tong, Li Bin, Wang Shaosong, Xu Chang, Huang Caihua, Lin Donghai
Beijing Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Capital Medical University, Beijing, 100010, China; Acupuncture and Moxibustion, China Academy of Chinese Medical Science, Beijing, 100700, China.
College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Key Laboratory for Chemical Biology of Fujian Province, MOE Key Laboratory of Spectrochemical Analysis & Instrumentation, Xiamen University, Xiamen, 361005, China; Department of Medicinal Chemistry, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing, 210009, China.
J Ethnopharmacol. 2023 Jan 10;300:115626. doi: 10.1016/j.jep.2022.115626. Epub 2022 Aug 30.
Moxibustion is a traditional medical intervention of traditional Chinese medicine. It refers to the direct or indirect application of ignited moxa wool made of mugwort leaves to acupuncture points or other specific parts of the body for either treating or preventing diseases. Moxibustion has been proven to be effective in treating skin lesions of psoriasis.
This study was performed to elucidate molecular mechanisms underlying the effects of moxibustion treatment on imiquimod-induced psoriatic mice.
We established an imiquimod (IMQ)-induced psoriatic mice (Model) and assessed the effects of moxibustion (Moxi) treatment on skin lesions of psoriatic mice by the PASI scores and expressions of inflammation-related factors relative to normal control mice (NC). We then performed nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR)-based metabolomic analysis on the skin tissues of the NC, Model and Moxi-treated mice to address metabolic differences among the three groups.
Moxi mice showed reduced PASI scores and decreased expressions of the pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-8, IL-17A and IL-23 relative to Model mice. Compared with the Model group, the NC and Moxi groups shared 9 characteristic metabolites and 4 significantly altered metabolic pathways except for taurine and hypotaurine metabolism uniquely identified in the NC group. To a certain extent, moxibustion treatment improved metabolic disorders of skin lesions of psoriatic mice by decreasing glucose, valine, asparagine, aspartate and alanine-mediated cell proliferation and synthesis of scaffold proteins, alleviating histidine-mediated hyperproliferation of blood vessels, and promoting triacylglycerol decomposition.
This study reveals the molecular mechanisms underlying the effects of moxibustion treatment on the skin lesions of psoriasis, potentially improving the clinical efficacy of moxibustion.
艾灸是中医的一种传统医学干预手段。它是指将由艾叶制成的艾绒点燃后直接或间接施用于穴位或身体的其他特定部位，以治疗或预防疾病。艾灸已被证明对治疗银屑病的皮肤损伤有效。
本研究旨在阐明艾灸治疗对咪喹莫特诱导的银屑病小鼠作用的分子机制。
我们建立了咪喹莫特（IMQ）诱导的银屑病小鼠模型（模型组），并通过银屑病面积和严重程度指数（PASI）评分以及与正常对照小鼠（NC组）相比的炎症相关因子表达，评估艾灸（艾灸组）治疗对银屑病小鼠皮肤损伤的影响。然后，我们对NC组、模型组和艾灸治疗组小鼠的皮肤组织进行基于核磁共振（NMR）的代谢组学分析，以探讨三组之间的代谢差异。
与模型组小鼠相比，艾灸组小鼠的PASI评分降低，促炎细胞因子白细胞介素-8（IL-8）、白细胞介素-17A（IL-17A）和白细胞介素-23（IL-23）的表达减少。与模型组相比，NC组和艾灸组共有9种特征性代谢物和4条显著改变的代谢途径，除了NC组特有的牛磺酸和亚牛磺酸代谢途径。在一定程度上，艾灸治疗通过减少葡萄糖、缬氨酸、天冬酰胺、天冬氨酸和丙氨酸介导的细胞增殖和支架蛋白合成，减轻组氨酸介导的血管过度增殖，并促进三酰甘油分解，改善了银屑病小鼠皮肤损伤的代谢紊乱。
本研究揭示了艾灸治疗对银屑病皮肤损伤作用的分子机制，可能提高艾灸的临床疗效。
