Effect of moxibustion on inflammatory cytokine levels in hippocampus and hypothalamus in rats with fatigue

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of moxibustion of "Zusanli "(ST36) on levels of inflammatory cytokines in the hippocampus and hypothalamus regions of rats with fatigue, so as to reveal its anti-fatigue mechanism. METHODS: Twenty-four male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into normal control, fatigue model, and moxibustion groups, with 8 rats in each group. The fatigue model was established by chronic weight-loaded exhaustive swimming. During modeling, the rats in the moxibustion group were given moxibustion (3 moxa cones, about 8 min in duration) at bilateral ST36, once every other day for 11 times in total. The duration of exhausted swimming was observed, and ELISA was used to measure the contents of interleukin-1β (IL-1β), interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), and interferon gamma (IFN-γ) in the hippocampus and hypothalamus tissues. RESULTS: The duration of exhausted swimming was obviously prolonged on day 14 and 21 after moxibustion intervention relevant to the model group (P 0.05). No significantly changes were found in the levels of hypothalamic IL-1β， IL-6, TNF-α and IFN-γ after modeling and moxibustion (P>0.05), and in the levels of hippocampal IL-1β， TNF-α and IFN-γ after moxibustion (P>0.05)．. CONCLUSION: Moxibustion can significantly down-regulate hippocampal IL-6 content in fatigue rats, which maybe contribute to its effect in alleviating fatigue. Further studies need being conducted to identify this conclusion.