Effect of moxibustion on expressions of HO-1 and MCP-3 protein in colon of rats with Crohn's disease / 针灸推拿医学（英文版）

ABSTRACT

Objective: To observe the effect of moxibustion therapy on heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) and monocyte chemoattractant protein-3 (MCP-3) protein expressions in the colonic mucosa of rats with Crohn's disease (CD), and to explore the intestinal mucosal immune mechanism of moxibustion therapy in treating CD. Methods:The CD rat model was established using the internationally accepted Morris method. The rats were randomly divided into a model group, a herbal cake-partitioned moxibustion group, a mild moxibustion group, a cigarette moxibustion group and a hot compress group, which were compared with the normal group. Except the normal group and the model group, rats in the other groups accepted different moxibustion therapies on bilateral Tianshu (ST 25). Hematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining was conducted and the pathological changes of the colon were observed under light microscope; the expressions of HO-1 and MCP-3 protein in rat’s colonic mucosa were determined by immunohisto-chemistry. Results:Compared with the normal group, rats in the model group showed mucosal defect, villus destruction or loss, submucosal congestion and edema, glandular destruction or disappearance, reduced goblet cells, ulcer formation, significantly increased positive target area and positive target integral optical density of HO-1 and MCP-3 protein expression (allP<0.01). After treatment, compared with the model group, colonic mucosa was significantly improved in the herbal cake-partitioned moxibustion group and the mild moxibustion group, which mainly showed that the intestinal glands were arranged regularly, ulcer surfaces were covered by the neoformative epitheliums, or intestinal ulcers were replaced by the nascent granulation tissue, and submucosal edema was alleviated, with a small amount of inflammatory cell infiltration. The total areas and the integral optical densities of the positive targets for rat’s colonic mucosa HO-1 and MCP-3 protein expressions were decreased (allP<0.01). Compared with the cigarette moxibustion group and the hot compress group, the total areas and the integral optical densities of the positive targets for rat’s colonic mucosa HO-1 and MCP-3 protein expressions were significantly decreased (allP<0.01) in the herbal cake-partitioned moxibustion group and the mild moxibustion group. Conclusion:Herbal cake-partitioned moxibustion and mild moxibustion can significantly improve the inflammatory response of colonic mucosa in CD rats. It can down-regulate the expressions of HO-1 and MCP-3 proteins in the colonic mucosa of CD rats, which may be one of the mechanism in intestinal mucosal immunity caused by moxibustion therapy.