Discussion on the effect pathways of preventing and treating coronavirus disease 2019 by acupuncture and moxibustion from the regulation of immune inflammatory response / 中国针灸

The effect of acupuncture-moxibustion on respiratory system and systemic immune inflammatory response were reviewed to explore the possible role of neuroimmunomodulation in the control of inflammatory response and the effect mechanism of cholinergic anti-inflammatory pathway on coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Acupuncture-moxibustion could produce the local and systemic anti-inflammatory effect on COVID-19 through the activation of cholinergic anti-inflammatory pathway. Compared with humoral anti-inflammatory pathway, the neuronal anti-inflammatory pathway has earlier initiation, rapider action, and more localization, which play a more important role in the initial stage of inflammatory response. This may be an important basis for acupuncture-moxibustion intervention in the early stage of COVID-19. In addition to cholinergic anti-inflammatory pathway, acupuncture-moxibustion may also play an anti-inflammatory role in activating sympathetic nerve, hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and other neural anti-inflammatory pathways. How acupuncture-moxibustion play its role in stimulating the vagus nerve and sympathetic nerve in different periods of inflammatory response, and whether the effect is based on the selection of acupoints and the methods of stimulation, will be the research direction of the transformation from basic research to clinical research for acupuncture-moxibustion.

Effect of traditional Chinese medicines with different properties on thermoregulation and temperature-sensitive transient receptor potentialion channel protein of rats with yeast-induced fever / 中国中药杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To compare the intervention effects of four traditional Chinese medicines (TCMs) with typical cold or hot property on body temperature and temperature-sensitive transient receptor potential ion channel proteins (TRPs) of rats with yeast-induced fever.</p><p><b>METHOD</b>The pyrexia model was induced by injecting yeast suspension subcutaneously. Totally 108 male SD rats were randomly divided into the normal group, the model group, the Rhei Radix et Rhizoma treated group, the Coptidis Rhizoma treated group, the Euodiae Fructus treated group, and the Alpiniae Officinarum Rhizoma treated group, with 18 rats in each group. At the 4 h, 8 h and 12 h after injection of yeast, the rats were sacrificed to collect their hypothalamus and dorsal root ganglion. The expressions of TRPV1 and TRPM8 were detected by immunohistochemistry and Western blot method.</p><p><b>RESULT</b>Compared with the normal group, after injection of yeast, the temperature of rats in the model group notably increased, and reached the peak at 8 h (P < 0.01). The TRPV1 level in hypothalamus and dorsal root ganglia (DRG) of the model group significantly increased, whereas the TRPM8 level significantly reduced. Compared with the model group, the Rhei Radix et Rhizoma group and the Coptidis Rhizoma group showed significant decrease in the high body temperature of rats caused by yeast, down-regulation in the expression of TRPV1, and up-regulation in the expression of TRPM8 (P < 0.05 or P < 0.01). Euodiae Fructus and Alpiniae Officinarum Rhizoma had no significant effect on either temperature or TRPs of fever rats.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Rhei Radix et Rhizoma and Coptidis Rhizoma, both are TCMs with cold property, can reduce the temperature of fever rats induced by yeast, which may be related to their effective regulation of TRPV1 and TRPM8 in hypothalamus and DRG, while Euodiae Fructus and Alpiniae Officinarum Rhizoma had no relevant effect.</p>