Relation between the therapeutic effect of moxibustion in treating arthralgia and SP and enkephalin in nervous tissues.

ABSTRACT

Moxibustion can accelerate the relief of arthralgia of rats suffering from adjuvant arthritis. At the same time, it promotes the recovery of SP in the sciatic nerve, and maintains SP and leu-enkephalin at a higher level in the lumbar spinal cord. The results show that the therapeutic effect of moxibustion in treating arthralgia bears some relation to activating the spinal enkephalin system and modulating the function of primary afferent neurons.