%A Cui Tiantian, Yi Lan, Ouyang Hougan, Wu Huiting, Ouyang Yanchu, Chen Chu %T Effect of thermosensitive moxibustion in a rat model of pelvic inflammation based on trifocal focal membrane theory %0 Journal Article %D 2021 %J Chinese Journal of Tissue Engineering Research %R 10.3969/j.issn.2095-4344.3519 %P 3168-3172 %V 25 %N 20 %U {https://www.cjter.com/CN/abstract/article_16596.shtml} %8 2021-07-18 %X BACKGROUND: From clinical experience and basic experiments, it is concluded that thermosensitive moxibustion has a positive effect on the treatment of pelvic inflammatory disease, but its mechanism of action has not been fully explained.
OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of thermosensitive moxibustion on fascial connective tissue and its therapeutic mechanism in rats with pelvic inflammatory disease.
METHODS: Sixty SPF female rats were randomly divided into normal group (n=15) and model group (n=45). The pelvic inflammatory disease model was prepared by mixed bacteria injection. After modeling, 45 model rats were randomly divided into model group, moxibustion group and thermosensitive moxibustion group according to the change of tail temperature. The normal and model groups did not receive any intervention measures, and the remaining two groups were given moxa-moxibustion (15 minutes per day) and thermosensitive moxibustion (40 minutes per day) at Sanyin Jiao, Zusanli and Guanyuan acupoints, respectively. All treatments were observed over a 7-day period. At the end of the treatment, MASSON staining was used to observe the morphological changes of the uterus, peritoneum and fascia around the acupoints. The contents of interleukin-6 and tumor necrosis factor-α in the rat serum were determined by ELISA. 
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: MASSON staining of the uterus, peritoneum and fascia around the acupoints showed that, compared with the model group, the collagen fibers in the fascia of the thermosensitive moxibustion group showed wavy distribution and the diameter of cytoplasm became longer. The serum levels of tumor necrosis factor-α and interleukin-6 in the model group were significantly higher than those in the normal group (P < 0.05). After treatment, the levels of tumor necrosis factor-α and interleukin-6 in the thermosensitive moxibustion group and the moxibustion group were significantly lower than those in the model group (P < 0.01), while the levels of tumor necrosis factor-α and interleukin-6 in the thermosensitive moxibustion group were significantly lower than those in the moxibustion group (P < 0.05). The results suggest that the role of thermosensitive acupuncture points may be closely related to the trifocal film of the whole body, and thermosensitive moxibustion may realize the heat signal conduction by changing the morphology and structure of fibroblasts in the relevant connective tissue of the whole body. The relief of pelvic inflammatory symptoms by thermosensitive moxibustion may be related to the changes in serum levels of tumor necrosis factor-α and interleukin-6.