Effect Of Separate Cake Moxibustion On Gastric Emptying Rate And Hypothalamic Monoamine Neurotransmitter In Rats With FD Liver Stagnation And Spleen Deficiency

Objective: To observe the influence of herbal cake-separated moxibustion on the contents of 5-hydroxy tryptamine(5-HT),dopamine(DA) and norepinephrine(NE) in hypothalamus in rats with functional dyspepsia(FD) of syndrome of liver stagnation and spleen deficiency,so as to explore its mechanism underlying improvement of FD.Methods: Fifty SD rats were randomly divided into 5 groups:control(A), model(B), herbal cake-separated moxibustion(C), moxa-cone moxibustion(D) and Xiaoyaosan(E), with 10 rats in each group. The FD model was established by applying chronic restraint stress+excessive fatigue+irregular food+tail clipping+shaking for 21 consecutive days. Moxibustion(herbal cake-separated or moxa-cone) was applied to bilateral“Ganshu”(BL 18), “Pishu”(BL 20) and“Weishu”(BL 21), or “Zhangmen”(LR 13), “Qimen”(LR 14)and “Zhongwan”(CV 12) for 30 min,once daily for 14 d. For rats of the group E, Xiaoyaosan[1ml(2g)/100g] was adminstrated by gavage. The contents of 5-HT, DA and NE in the hypothalamus tissue were detected by high performance liquid chromatography.Results:(1)After modeling, the rats showed fretful and tired, while their fur became dim and withered, and their feces sometimes dry or unformed; The number of crossing grid, standing up and modifing were significantly reduced than before modeling(P<0.01 or P<0.05).(2)The gastric empty rate was obviously lower in the model group than in the control group(P<0.01). After the treatment, the gastric empty rate in the hebal cake-separated moxibustion,moxa-cone moxibustion and Xiaoyaosan groups were significantly increased in comparison with the model group(P<0.01), but there were no significant differences among the three treatment groups(P>0.05).(3)Compared to the control group,the contents of 5-HT, DA and NE in the hypothalamus were markedly decreased in the model group(P<0.01), while compared to the model group,the contents of hypothalamic 5-HT, DAand NE were significantly up-regulated in both the herbal cake-separated moxibustion and Xiaoyaosan groups(P<0.01), rather than in the moxa-cone moxibustion groups(P>0.05). No significant differences were found between the herbalcake-separated moxibustion and Xiaoyaosan groups in increasing hypothalamic 5-HT, DA and NE levels(P>0.05).Conclusion:Herbal cake-separated moxibusiton can promote the gastric empty rate in FD rats, which may be associated with its effects in inhibiting stress induced decrease of hypothalamic 5-HT,DA and NE levels.