Experimental Research On The Immune Intervention Of Moxibust Ion On Rats Model Of Chronic Fatigue And Related Clinical Studies

BackgroundChronic Fatigue Syndromes (CFS for short) is a newknown disease in modern spectrum of disease. The characteristic of CFS is long-term and severe fatigue lasting more than half a year, accompanied by low fever (or self heating), headache, sore throat, muscle or joint pain, the attention not easy concentrated, bad memory, insomnia and depression etc as a group of symptoms. Long term fatigue caused by CFS would lead to decreased physical state, so that work efficiency is greatly reduced, the quality of life would be seriously affected. Therefore, looking for a kind of effective prevention and control method of CFS with no side effect has very positive clinical and social significance.ObjectiveThe animal experiment of this research observed the behavior of the fatigue rats models and the influence of their immune system after moxibustion on the Zusanli and Shenshu acupoints, and evaluated objectively the immune intervention effects on rats of this method. The clinical studies of this research used moxibustion on the Zusanli and Shenshu acupoints to treat CFS, observed the clinical curative effects, explored the pathogenesis of CFS and the mechanism of moxibustion. Thereby, we can provide an effective method to cure CFS for clinical treatment, and new train of thought and scientific basis to effectively and targetedly improve CFS.MethodsIn the animal experiment part, we feeded the rats for a week, and then randomly divided them into normal control group, model control group, Zusanli group, Shenshu group, Zusanli-plus-Shenshu group. Starting from the eighth day, we used the composite method of20hours sleep deprivation and exhaustion swimming to establish the rat model with chronic fatigue except the normal control group. It lasted for three weeks totally. After that the next day, we moxibust the corresponding acupoints of the Zusanli group, Shenshu group, Zusanli-plus-Shenshu group, each acupoint for10minutes everytime,1time a day,5days a week,2days off, lasting for3weeks. Rats in normal control group and model control group were just crawled, not for moxibustion. Before and after modeling and after moxibustion, we obsered the behavior of rats in each group and tested their immunological indexes (IgA、IgM、IgG、C3、C4) and interleukins (IL-1β、IL-6)In the clinical studies part, the patients, who conformed to the standards of CFS, were randomly assigned to Zusanli group, Shenshu group, Zusanli-plus-Shenshu group and received moxibustion of the corresponding acupoints. Zusanli group and Shenshu group were moxibust20minutes for every acupoint everytime. Zusanli-plus-Shenshu group were moxibust10minutes for every acupoint everytime. The standard was that the skin feeled warm and can tolerate. We did the moxibustion1time a day,5days a week,2days off, lasting for4weeks with20times totally. We detailed the changes of patients before and after the clinical treatment and closely observed adverse reactions. Before and after treatment, we used fatigue scale-14, fatigue rating scale, self-evaluation of anxiety scale SAS to evaluate the patients and tested the immune level (IgA、IgM、IgG、C3、C4) contrastly between groups.ResultsIn the animal experiment part, after modelling, model control group, Zusanli group, Shenshu group, Zusanli-plus-Shenshu group growed slower, had shorter exhaustion swimming time, longer rat tail suspension time, longer residence time in the middle case, fewer horizontal movement and vertical movement of the open-field test than the normal control group rats. The difference was statistically significant (P<0.05). After the moxibustion, Zusanli group, Shenshu group, Zusanli-plus-Shenshu group growed faster, had longer exhaustion swimming time, shorter rat tail suspension time, shorter residence time in the middle case, more horizontal movement and vertical movement of the open-field test than the model control group. And their level of IgA、IgM、IgG、C3、C4were obviously improved, their interleukins (IL-1β、IL-6) were significantly decreased. The difference was statistically significant (P<0.05). And the level of IgM、IgG、C3and IL-1β was closer to normal control group, with no significant statistical difference(P>0.05). In the clinical studies part, fatigue scale-14, fatigue rating scale, self-evaluation of anxiety scale SAS of the patients in three groups were significantly lower than theirs before treatment, the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05). And the immune level (IgG, IgA, IgM, C3and C4) was improved to a certain extent. The total effective rate of Zusanli group, Shenshu group, Zusanli-plus-Shenshu group were70%,67.7%,90%respectively. The total effective rate of Zusanli-plus-Shenshu group was obviously higher than that of the other two groups. The scores of fatigue rating scale and self-evaluation of anxiety scale SAS of Zusanli-plus-Shenshu group were significantly lower than the other two groups. The levels of C3and C4of Zusanli-plus-Shenshu group were significantly higher than the other two groups. These differences were statistically significant (P<0.05).ConclusionMoxibustion has obvious advantages in treating CFS. Animal experiment showed that moxibustion not only can enhance the rats’active ability and their endurance, but also can regulate immune dysfunction in rats with chronic fatigue. What’s more, the effect of Zusanli and Shenshu being used together is better than Zusanli and Shenshu being used seperately to a certain extent. Clinical studies showed that moxibustion can improve the fatigue and anxiety state of CFS patients, adjust their immune function. And moxibustion on Zusanli and Shenshu together was better moxibustion on Zusanli or Shenshu only in improving the symptoms of CFS patients and adjusting their immune system to a certain extent. The conclusion of the clinical studies was consistent with animal experiment.