Objective：To observe the impacts of herb-partitioned moxibustion,warm moxibustion and electroacupuncture on the basic fibroblast growth factor（bFGF）and collagen type Ⅰ（Col Ⅰ）in colons of rats with Crohn＇ disease（CD）,and discuss the mechanism of acupuncture therapy on the intestinal fibrosis in CD.Methods：The model rats were developed by TNBS as multiple proinflammatory method.The rats were randomly divided into 5 groups：a normal group,a model group,a warm moxibustion group,an electroacupuncture group and a herb-partitioned moxibustion group.The treatments were carried out at Tianshu（ST 25）（bilateral）and Qihai（CV 6）in different treatments.The immunohistochemistry was used to detect the expression position of Col Ⅰ and bFGF.Results：The expressions of Col Ⅰ and bFGF in colons of rots in the model group significantly increased（compared with the normal group,P〈0.01）.After the herb-partitioned moxibustion,warm moxibustion and electroacupuncture,the expressions of Col Ⅰ and bFGF reduced markedly in the rats with CD（P〈0.01）.The expression of bFGF and Col Ⅰ in the colons had an obvious correlation in the Spearman rank correlation analysis.Conclusion：Acupuncture treatment reduced the abnormally high levels of expressions for Col Ⅰ and bFGF in colons.Col Ⅰ and bFGF participated in the fibrosis.Acupuncture treatment may reduce the bFGF expression in colons to regulate the excessive deposition,treating the intestinal fibrosis in CD.
Objective： To observe the effect of moxibustion on the expressions of transforming growth factor-β （TGF-β） protein, and Smad4 protein and mRNA in rats with intestinal fibrosis in Crohn disease （CD）, and to discuss the action mechanism of acupuncture-moxibustion in treating intestinal fibrosis in CD from the perspective of TGF-β/Smads signal pathway. Methods： A CD intestinal fibrosis model was developed by using male SD rats of clean grade. The rats were randomized into a normal group, a model group, a mild moxibustion group, an electroacupuncture （EA） group, and a herb-partitioned moxibustion group. The rats in the normal and the model groups did not receive any interventions. Tianshu （ST 25） and Qihai （CV 6） were selected for the rats in the mild moxibustion group, the EA group, and the herb-partitioned moxibustion group. Mild moxibustion, EA, and herb-partitioned moxibustion were given respectively. After treatment, the expressions of TGF-β and Smad4 proteins in rat’s colon were detected by using immunohistochemistry （IHC）; the expression of Smad4 mRNA was determined by using fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction （FQ-PCR）. Results： Compared with the normal group, the expressions of TGF-β protein, Smad4 protein and Smad4 mRNA significantly increased in the model group （P0.01）. Compared with the model group, the expressions of TGF-β protein, Smad4 protein, and Smad4 mRNA dropped markedly （P0.01 or P0.05） after treatments of mild moxibustion, EA, and herb-partitioned moxibustion. Conclusion： The expressions of TGF-β protein, Smad4 protein and Smad4 mRNA significantly increase in CD rats withintestinal fibrosis; while mild moxibustion, EA and herb-partitioned moxibustion at Tianshu （ST 25） and Qihai （CV 6） all can down-regulate the abnormal expressions.
