Quality Evaluation Of Artemisiae Argyi Folium For Moxibustion

Moxa floss,the processed dry leaves of Artemisiae Argyi Folium(Artemisia argyi Levl.et Vant.),is the desirable materialfor traditional Chinese moxibustion therapy.It is traditionally believed that the heat and light released during moxibustion material burning are the key factors for the clinical efficacy,and the quality of moxibustion material directly affects the clinical effect.The quality of moxibustion materials is greatly affected by factors such as storage period and environment of the origin place.There has always been a saying of"seven years of disease,three years of moxa".Since the Ming Dynasty,Qi Ai has been regarded as a genuine medicinal material for moxibustion with good quality and good curative effect.However,there is still no clear explanation as to how factors such as storage life and place of origin affect the quality of moxa,the scientific basis of moxa as the best moxibustion material,how to establish a quality evaluation method of reactive moxibustion material for hyperthermia,and how to evaluate the quality of moxibustion material through curative effect.In this study,the thermo-optic characteristics,chemical compositions and therapeutic effects of moxibustion on knee Osteoarthritis(OA)of different quality moxa materials were studied,and a quality evaluation method for the combustion thermal analysis of moxa materials was established.The differences in therapeutic effects of different quality moxa materials were clarified,and an evaluation model was established by correlating the quality characteristics and therapeutic effects indicators to predict the therapeutic effects of moxibustion on different quality moxa materials.This study is intended to provide valuable exploration and technical examples for innovative research on quality evaluation of Artemisiae Argyi Folium for moxibustion therapy.The textual research shows that Artemisia Argyi Folium was mostly used for moxibustion except for oral administration and external application before Han dynasty.It was used sometimes by mixing with other plants of close genera,and gradually separated from Artemisia scoparia after Han dynasty.The Artemisia Argyi Folium in Song Dynasty’s"Tujing Materia Medica" is same with Artemisiae Argyi Folium.Before the Ming Dynasty,the genuine producing areas of Artemisia Argyi Folium were "Fu Dao"(North Ai)in Tangyin,Henan Province,and "Si Ming"(Hai Ai)in Ningbo,Zhejiang Province.From Ming Dynasty to modern times,it changed to "Qi Zhou"(Qi Ai)in Hubei Province,while Hai Ai and North Ai disappeared basically.The thermal and optical characteristics of combustion of different moxa materials were studied by means of simutaneous thermogravimetric differential thermal analysis(TG/DSC)and infrared radiation spectrum(IR).The characterization of moxa combustion are revealed for the first time,which can be divided into three stages:loss on drying,oxidation/carbonization combustion and burnout.The combustion of moxa floss is a mild and slow process,releasing heat continuously and steadily.It also has the characteristics of low ignition point,easy burning,lasting,sufficient heat,slow and mild,and is closer to woody plants rather than herbaceous plants.These characteristics are the important basis for its application as the best moxibustion material.The stored heat of Aged Ai gradually decreases with the increase of storage life,and its inflammable and mild characteristics are more suitable for clinical moxibustion therapy.The ratio of leaf to floss of 10:1 is the most energy-efficient moxibustion material ratio.The combustion results of Artemisia Argyi Folium from different producing areas show that Qiai has the highest calorific value(J,11713J/g,higher than that of other producing areas by 4-24%),the best combustion index(S,27,9574,compared with 9.2-16.3 from other producing areas),the highest burnout index(Db,25.7263,compared with 9.5-13.6 from other producing areas).The peak combustion efficiency data of Qiai are 21.93 w/g(oxidation zone)and 32.50 w/g(carbonization zone),higher than those of Artemisia Argyi Folium from other areas.These results explained the scientific connotation of excellent quality of genuine medicinal materials Qiai to some extent.A new method was established to evaluate the quality of moxibustion materials by using parameters such as combustion characteristics(S value),combustion performance(Db value),combustion calorific value(J value)and combustion peak efficiency data(W value).Three peaks can be observed in the infrared radiation spectrum of moxa stick during combustion,with the highest peak at 3.75 μm,a small shoulder peak at 4.75 μm and a larger third peak at 7.50-9.00 μm.The Artemisia Argyi Folium of Qichun shows greater infrared radiation spectrum intensity than that of Nanyang and Tangyin.The comparison of infrared radiation spectrum intensity of moxa floss stored for 1-7 years shows that the better storage life is 3-5 years with 5 years as the best,while that of 7 years is the worst.Studies on the therapeutic effect and mechanism of moxibustion with moxa floss from different origins on OA model rats show that moxibustion can effectively reduce knee joint swelling and relieve local inflammation in OA model rats,and moxa floss from Qichun shows better effects than Nanyang,Hunan and moxa charcoal.The mechanism of moxibustion effect is mainly related to gene pathways such as pain,immunity,chemokine signal transduction,etc.The mechanism for OA may include:the up-regulating TRPM3 gene can activate ion channels,affect calcium metabolism and reduce the degree of OA swelling;the down-regulation of GAPDH affects glucose metabolism of knee synovial cells and mediates anti-inflammatory effect;the down regulation of pain-related gene MMP24 may be helpful to relieve OA pain;and the up-regulation of CTNNB1 may activate Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway and affect differentiation and regeneration of OA chondrocytes.Based on Grey Relational Analysis(GRA)and least squares support vector machine(LS-SVM),black box algorithm optimization modeling was conducted to construct quality evaluation models of moxibustion material with different quality characteristics and therapeutic effect,with moxibustion material combustion characteristic data as X value and clinical data as Y value.The results showed that there is a high fitting degree between the thermal analysis characteristic data of moxa wood and the clinical curative effect model The VAS scores of clinical knee pain treated with moxa floss from Qichun,Nanyang and capillary artemisia were compared between groups-the difference results for two weeks of treatment,were 21.89,19.11 and 15.53 respectively.The model fitting predicted values were 21.73,19.13 and 15.66 respectively,with relative deviations of 0.73%,0.13 and 0.87%;the fitting results were close to the real values.The model predicted clinical efficacy values of moxa floss from Hunan with 3-year-storage life,Qiai with 1-year-storage life and moxa charcoal were 19.26,17.85 and 18.22 respectively,and the predicted therapeutic effect were between that of moxa floss from Qichun with 5-wear-storage life and capillary artemisia.The model can accurately predict the difference in curative effect of moxa floss with different combustion characteristics.The clinical efficacy of Qiai as a genuine medicinal material is closely related to the special thermal and optical properties generated during combustion.The volatile and non-volatile components of Artemisiae Argyi Folium from various planting areas were studied by gas chromatography-mass spectrometer(GC-MS)and ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry(UPLC-Q-TOF MS).Ninety volatile components and 147 non-volatile components were identified,and caffeogy acid glucoses were found for the first time.Multivariate statistical data suggested that the planting areas of Artemisiae Argyi Folium can be divided into five regions,i.e.,Hubei,Jiangxi,Henan and Hunan;Yunnan,Guangxi and Guizhou;Liaoning,Jilin,and Heilongjiang;Xinjiang,and Ningxia;and Fujian.The main different components among regions are eupatorin,fucoxanthin,isochlorogenic acid A～C,jaceosidin,chlorogenic acid,etc.Mechanical processing has great influence on monoterpene components,whose loss is proportional to the processing ratio of moxa floss,but has no obvious influence on sesquiterpene and other components with larger molecular weight.There was no significant difference in chemical composition between moxa floss with different leaf-to-floss ratio and storage life.To sum up,the quality evaluation method of moxibustion material based on combustion heat analysis was established in this study.The heat and light characteristics of moxibustion materials during burning were systematically expounded for the first time,and the scientific basis of moxa floss as the best one was revealed.It was clarified that the superior effect of Qiai as genuine moxibustion material was closely related to the special heat and light properties produced when burning.The reasons for the excellent quality of moxa floss with 3～5 years storage life and the leaf to floss ratio of 10:1 were explained.Moxibustion is a comprehensive therapeutic effect of multi-channel and multi-target photothermal radiation.The clinical moxibustion effect of moxa floss is directly related to the combustion characteristics.The quality evaluation model of moxibustion material based on curative effect has good fitting and prediction accuracy,and can accurately predict the difference in curative effect of moxibustion materials with different combustion characteristics.