Modulation of lipopolysaccharide-induced cytotoxic factor and interferon production by moxibustion in mice

Pretreatment of mice with moxibustion (Mox) modulated lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced endogenous cytotoxic factor (CF) and interferon (IFN) production in serum. CF was measured by the L929 cytotoxicity test and IFN by the cytopathic effect microassay on L929 cells with vesicular stomatitis virus. Significant inhibition of CF activity was observed when Mox and LPS were applied simultaneously. Its potentiation was maximal, about 9 times the control level, when treatment intervals between Mox and LPS were 24-72 hours, and declined thereafter. Mox treatment modified LPS-induced IFN production with a similar biphasic pattern but the onset of modification was delayed. This is the first report of modulation of cytokine production by Mox treatment.

[Regulatory effects of acupuncture and moxibustion on simple obese complicated with hypertension]

Acupuncture and moxibustion is one of the important therapies in TCM for treating obese. The authors have treated 41 simple obese patients complicated with hypertension by acupuncture and moxibustion which obtained good results. In the treating group, a total effective rate was 87.8% (36 cases). For the purpose of understanding regulatory effect of acupuncture and moxibustion, the authors have observed the obesity indices, the lipid indices (TC, TG, VLDL-C, TC/HDL-C, HDL-C, LDL-C, LDL-C/HDL-C and AI), the physiological indices (saliva secretion, heart rate, respiratory rate, blood pressure and temperature) and the energy metabolism indices (BMR) in the simple obese complicated with hypertension before and after the acupuncture and moxibustion. The results showed that the therapeutic effect of acupuncture and moxibustion could have good results. At the same time, there were the benign regulatory effect of acupuncture and moxibustion in the overeating, the blood pressure, the vegetative nervous indexes, the lipid level and the energy metabolism.

Cell membrane activities and regeneration mechanisms as therapy mediators in moxibustion and acupuncture treatments: theoretical considerations

Needling by acupuncture or heating by moxibustion, the major Chinese medicine modalities, include tissue destruction or increased permeability of cell membrane. Both action potential activities and the release of cellular metabolites responsible for regeneration occurs. These phenomena are eventually abolished by local and systemic inhibitory elements being metabolites or neurogenic. The inhibitory effect induced by the acupuncture and moxibustion and directed to the manipulation site of these modalities may affect other anatomical sites and reduce or prevent neoplastic growth and neuromuscular or cardiac membrane activity disturbances.

On the therapeutic efficacy of electric acupuncture with moxibustion in 95 cases of chronic pelvic infectious disease (PID)

This article presents the joint use of electric acupuncture and moxibustion in the treatment of 95 cases of chronic PID. Clinical cure in 42 cases, marked improvement in 22 cases, some improvement in 17 cases, and no effect in 12 cases. the overall effective rate was 88.4%, which was superior to that of the control group (P less than 0.05) using antibiotics.

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

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.

Effects of moxibustion on cellular immunocompetence of gamma-irradiated mice

The effects of moxibustion on cellular immunocompetence of gamma-irradiated mice were investigated in this study. A total of 240 male young mice (ICR strain), 6-8 weeks of age, were chosen and divided into three groups. Group A was the normal control. Group B, the experimental control, was treated with 400 rad whole body gamma-irradiation. Group C, the experimental group, was treated with moxibustion (MT) after being exposed to gamma-irradiation. Six to eight mice from each group were sacrificed on days 1, 5, 12, 19, 26 and 33 post-irradiation. The body and splenic weights of mice in each group were measured. The cellular immunocompetence was measured by 3H-thymidine uptake in each experimental mouse. The results revealed that 400 rad of gamma-ray irradiation inhibited the increase of body and splenic weights, and exerted a pronounced inhibitory effect on the incorporative rates of 3H-thymidine after being stimulated by mitogens such as PHA, PWM, Con A and LPS in the splenic lymphoid cells. MT seemed to help the recovery of the cellular immunocompetence in the gamma-ray irradiated mice.

Suppression of the DTH reaction in mice by means of moxibustion at electro-permeable points

The effects of moxibustion stimulation on picryl chloride-induced cutaneous contact hypersensitivity, a delayed type of hypersensitivity (DTH) reaction, were investigated in mice. Three electro-permeable points (B-20, LI-15, S-36) were selected as moxibustion points. Moxibustion at point B-20 (spleen associated point) significantly suppressed the DTH reaction. Adoptive transfer of spleen T cells from moxibustion-stimulated donors resulted in an increased suppression of the DTH reaction in the recipients. These studies suggest that suppression of the DTH reaction with moxibustion may be related to cellular immunity, especially to the induction of the suppressive activity of T cells in the spleen.

Cardiovascular effects of acupuncture stimulation at point Governing Vessel 26 in halothane-anesthetized ponies

The acupuncture point Governing Vessel (GV-26) is used commonly in the Orient to treat shock in human beings and other species. The cardiovascular effects of stimulation of GV-26 were studied in healthy ponies during 2 episodes of halothane anesthesia. During one anesthetic episode, electrical stimulation (electrostimulation) of GV-26 was performed, and during the other anesthetic episode, heat stimulation (moxibustion) of GV-26 was performed. The order of the stimulations was random. A nonacupuncture point was selected for comparable control stimulation during each experiment. Control and acupuncture stimulations were of equal intensity. There were no significant changes in cardiac output, systemic arterial pressure, or heart rate associated with either electrical or heat acupuncture stimulation.

Maqua (therapeutic burn) as an indicator of underlying disease

The origin and nature of the maqua (the Arabic therapeutic burn) is presented together with our clinical experience of patients previously treated by this traditional method. Maquas are small deep burns inflicted in areas either in proximity to a diseased organ or in points related traditionally to the original basic problem. These relationships may be rooted in historical ties between old Arab medicine and traditional Oriental, antique Egyptian, and Greco-Roman medicines. Maquas alone only rarely present a threat to the patient, but in many cases they may serve as an indicator of the original underlying disease. This and other folklore treatment modalities, together with the healers themselves, should be acknowledged by us, as markers for health problems or maybe for potential healing methods and doctor-patient relationships.

Traditional Chinese rehabilitative therapy in the process of modernization

In the past few years modalities of traditional Chinese rehabilitative therapy have changed from an experimental approach towards the shaping of a modernized and scientific system. The landmark of this process is characterized by adoption of scientific methods in the appraisal of efficacy, provision of experimental evidence to unveil the mechanisms for the treatments and development of new modalities by innovation with modern technology. Recent advances in clinical and experimental studies on acupuncture, Chinese massage and manipulation, qigong, and Tai Ji exercise are reviewed, with a focus on new findings in physiological mechanisms and effects on anti-senility. Comments are made on new modalities such as 'physical therapy on acupoints'. Progress in the use of qigong (meditation therapy) in tapping mental potentials and remediating mental deficiency is also reported.

Organic components of moxa

Moxa was soaked in a mixed solvent of chloroform, methanol and water (5:5:1) at room temperature for 7 days, and the supernatant solution was separated into two layers by the addition of water. Heptatriacontane (C37H76), confirmed by measurements of 1H and 13C-NMR spectra and melting point, was obtained from the chloroform layer, while condensed tannins having catechol derivatives were found in the methanol-water layer. Each ratio of C37H76 in several kinds of moxas to the total weight of the moxa was similar in both high-class and low-class moxas, but that of the tannins was much less in the former than the latter. Comparing the burning-temperature curve to the time between the moxa after the extraction and before, the time for the rise of the burning-temperature from 25 degrees C to the highest temperature was longer in the treated moxa. Removal of C37H76 from the original moxa seems to decelerate the burning of moxa.

Serratia marcescens infected silk suture rejected by combined acupuncture, moxibustion and low-power laser therapy from the abdominal fascia

Upper abdominal pains lasting 12 years after cholecystectomy, were improved in an 82-year-old woman following the rejection of indigestable silk surgical sutures induced by combined therapy of acupuncture, moxibustion and low-power laser beam irradiation directed to an old post-cholecystectomy scar. An inflammatory reaction followed by granulation tissue mass was developed. Embedded in the granulation tissue were the above mentioned silk sutures which finally were expelled through the skin at the operation scar. A surgical procedure suggested to the patient, in case of acupuncture therapy failure, was obviously avoided. Serratia-marcescens infection of the expelled material was bacteriologically defined.

An electron microscopic study of the acupuncture or moxibustion stimulated regional skin and lymph node in experimental animals

Ultrastructures of the electro-acupuncture or moxibustion stimulated skin and regional lymph nodes in experimental animals were examined by scanning and transmission electron microscopy. In the scanning electron microscopy, small numbers of infiltrating erythrocytes and lymphocytes were found in the vicinity of the penetrated acupuncture needle in the acupuncture-stimulated skin, whereas moxibustion-treated instances revealed a large number of immunocyte infiltrations in the region. Transmission electron microscopically revealed that immunocytes consisted of lymphocytes, monocytes and some granulocytes and mast cells. In addition, the moxibustion-stimulated regional lymph nodes increased in weight after the stimulation and induced numerous immunocyte influx through afferent lymphatics. The acupuncture-stimulated nodes, however, revealed no remarkable change in the weight and morphology. A functional significance of the acupuncture and moxibustion-stimulated skin and regional nodes was discussed in reference to previous immunohistological descriptions of immune-reacted lymph node of the same animals.