1Center for Xin'an Medicine and Modernization of Traditional Chinese Medicine of IHM, 2College of Acupuncture-Moxibustion and Massage, College of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Anhui University of Chinese Medicine, Hefei 230012, China.
Key Laboratory of Xin'an Medicine, Ministry of Education, Anhui University of Chinese Medicine, Hefei 230038.
Zhen Ci Yan Jiu. 2024 Jun 25;49(6):551-557. doi: 10.13702/j.1000-0607.20230820.
To observe the effect of moxibustion at "Xinshu" (BL15) and "Feishu" (BL13) on transient receptor potential vanilloid type 1(TRPV1), calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP), and serum interleukin-10 (IL-10) in the myocardial tissue of rats with chronic heart failure (CHF), so as to explore its underlying mechanisms in improvement of CHF.
Male SD rats were randomly divided into the normal, model, moxibustion, capsaicin, moxibustion + capsaicin, and moxibustion + solvent groups, with 10 rats in each group. The CHF model was established by permanent ligation of the anterior descending branch of the left coronary artery. Mild moxibustion was applied to bilateral BL13 and BL15 for 30 min once daily for 4 weeks. Rats in the capsaicin group were smeared with capsaicin in the acupoint area once a day for 4 weeks. For rats of the moxibustion + capsaicin and moxibustion + solvent groups, capsaicin and solvent were applied to the acupoint area before moxibustion for 4 weeks, respectively. The ejection fraction (EF) and left ventricular fractional shortening rate (FS) were examined by echocardiography. HE staining was used to observe the myecardial morphological structure. The mRNA and protein expression levels of TRPV1, CGRP and galectin-3 (Gal-3) in myocardial tissue were detected by real-time quantitative PCR and Western blot, respectively. The content of IL-10 in serum was detected by ELISA.
After modeling, the pathological changes of myocardium (as cardiac muscle fiber disorder, inflammatory cell infiltration, etc.) were obvious, and the EF, FS, serum IL-10, protein and mRNA exspression of TRPV1 and CGRP were significantly decreased (<0.01) in the model group compared with the normal group, while the protein and mRNA exspression of Gal-3 were significantly up-regulated (<0.01). Following the interventions, the above-mentioned indexes were all reversed in moxibustion, capsaicin, and moxibustion + capsaicin groups (<0.01), and the effect of moxibustion + capsaicin was the best (<0.05, <0.01).
Moxibustion can reduce myocardial injury and improve cardiac function in CHF rats, which may be related to its effects in up-regulating the expression of TRPV1 and CGRP, and down-regulating the expression of Gal-3 to alleviate myocardial fibrosis.
观察艾灸“心俞”（BL15）、“肺俞”（BL13）对慢性心力衰竭（CHF）大鼠心肌组织中瞬时受体电位香草酸亚型 1（TRPV1）、降钙素基因相关肽（CGRP）和血清白细胞介素-10（IL-10）的影响，探讨其改善 CHF 的作用机制。
雄性 SD 大鼠随机分为正常组、模型组、艾灸组、辣椒素组、艾灸+辣椒素组和艾灸+溶剂组，每组 10 只。采用左冠状动脉前降支永久性结扎法制备 CHF 模型。每日轻度艾灸双侧 BL13 和 BL15 30 min，共 4 周。辣椒素组每天在穴位区域涂抹辣椒素 4 周。艾灸+辣椒素组和艾灸+溶剂组在艾灸前 4 周分别在穴位区域涂抹辣椒素和溶剂。采用超声心动图检测射血分数（EF）和左心室缩短分数（FS）。HE 染色观察心肌形态结构。采用实时定量 PCR 和 Western blot 法检测心肌组织中 TRPV1、CGRP 和半乳糖凝集素-3（Gal-3）的 mRNA 和蛋白表达水平，ELISA 法检测血清中 IL-10 的含量。
造模后，心肌组织病理变化明显（如心肌纤维排列紊乱、炎性细胞浸润等），模型组 EF、FS、血清 IL-10 及 TRPV1、CGRP 蛋白和 mRNA 表达水平均明显降低（<0.01），Gal-3 蛋白和 mRNA 表达水平明显升高（<0.01）。干预后，艾灸组、辣椒素组和艾灸+辣椒素组上述指标均有不同程度的逆转（<0.01），艾灸+辣椒素组效果最佳（<0.05，<0.01）。
艾灸可减轻 CHF 大鼠心肌损伤，改善心功能，其作用可能与上调 TRPV1、CGRP 表达，下调 Gal-3 表达，减轻心肌纤维化有关。
