Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a functional intestinal disease characterized by abdominal pain or discomfort and altered bowel habits. It has drawn great attention because of its high prevalence, reoccurring symptoms, and severe influence on patients' lives. Many clinical studies have demonstrated the efficacy of acupuncture-moxibustion in treating IBS. Increasing attention has been paid to research regarding the action mechanisms of acupuncture-moxibustion for IBS, and the adoption of modern techniques has achieved some progress. This article reviews the latest advances among action mechanism studies from the perspectives of gastrointestinal motility, visceral hypersensitivity, the brain-gut axis, the neuroendocrine system, and the immune system. It is shown that acupuncture-moxibustion can effectively regulate the above items, and thus, this treatment should have a high efficacy in the treatment of IBS. This article also identifies existing problems in current mechanism research and raises several ideas for future studies. Further revelations regarding these action mechanisms will promote the application of acupuncture-moxibustion in treating IBS.
Kidney fibrosis is usually the final manifestation of a wide variety of renal diseases. Recent years, research reported that lncRNAs played important roles in a variety of human diseases. However, the role and underlying mechanisms of lncRNAs in kidney fibrosis were complicated and largely unclear. In our study, we constructed the cell model of renal fibrosis in HK2 cells using TGF-β1 and found that lncRNA MEG3 was down-regulated in TGF-β1-induced renal fibrosis. We then found that overexpressed MEG3 inhibited the TGF-β1-induced promotion of EMT, cell viability and proliferation. Furthermore, we demonstrated that DNMT1 regulated the MEG3 expression via altering the CpGs methylation level of MEG3 promoter in TGF-β1-induced renal fibrosis. In addition, we further revealed that miR-185 could regulated the DNMT1 expression and thus, modulating the MEG3 in TGF-β1-induced renal fibrosis. Ultimately, our study illustrated that the modulation of the miR-185/ DNMT1/ MEG3 pathway exerted important roles in TGF-β1-induced renal fibrosis. In summary, our finding displayed a novel regulatory mechanism for TGF-β1-induced renal fibrosis, which provided a new potential therapeutic target for renal fibrosis.
IL-38, an anti-inflammatory cytokine, is a key regulator of homeostasis in host immunity. Intestinal immunity plays a critical role in defence against pathogenic invasion, as it is the largest surface organ and the most common entry point for micro-organisms. Dysregulated IL-38 activity is observed in several autoimmune diseases including systemic lupus erythematosus and atherosclerosis. The protective role of IL-38 is well illustrated in experimental colitis models, showing significantly worse colitis in IL-38 deficient mice, compared to wildtype mice. Moreover, exogenous IL-38 has been shown to ameliorate experimental colitis. Surprisingly, upregulated IL-38 is detected in inflamed tissue from inflammatory bowel disease patients, consistent with increased circulating cytokine levels, demonstrating the complex nature of host immunity in vivo. However, colonic IL-38 is significantly reduced in malignant tissues from patients with colorectal cancer (CRC), compared to adjacent non-cancerous tissue. Additionally, IL-38 expression in CRC correlates with 5-year survival, tumour size and differentiation, suggesting IL-38 plays a protective role during the development of CRC. IL-38 is also an independent biomarker for the prognosis of CRC, offering useful information in the management of CRC. Taken together, these data demonstrate the role of IL-38 in the maintenance of normal intestinal mucosal homeostasis, but that dysregulation of IL-38 contributes to initiation of chronic inflammatory bowel disease (resulting from persistent local inflammation), and that IL-38 provides protection during the development of colorectal cancer. Such data provide useful information for the development of novel therapeutic targets in the management of intestinal diseases for more precise medicine.
【Abstract】Objective: To observe the impact of herb-partitioned moxibustion and electroacupuncture on hyaluronic acid (HA), procollagen Ⅲ (PC Ⅲ) and collagen Ⅳ (C Ⅳ) of intestinal fibrosis in rats with Crohn's disease (CD), and discuss the effect and the mechanism of acupuncture on treating intestinal fibrosis of rats. Methods: SD rats were randomly divided into control group, model group, herb-partitioned moxibustion group, electroacupuncture group and medicine group. The model of CD was developed by trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid. Masson stain was used to observe the collagen fibers hyperplasia in colon and radioimmunoassay was adopted to detect the content of HA, PC Ⅲ and C Ⅳ in serum. Results: Compared with the control group, the proliferation of colonic collagen fibers, as well as the HA, PC Ⅲ and C Ⅳ in serum increased in the model group. Compared with the model group, the expression of collagen fibers, serum HA, PC Ⅲ and C Ⅳ decreased in the herb-partitioned moxibustion group, electroacupuncture group and medicine group. The expression of collagen fibers serum HA, PC Ⅲ and C Ⅳ in the herb-partitioned moxibustion group were lower than in the electroacupuncture group and medicine group. Conclusion: Herb-partitioned moxibustion and electroacupuncture effectively improved the pathological state of intestinal fibrosis in rats with CD and reduced the content of HA, PC Ⅲ and C Ⅳ in serum.
Objective: To observe the effects of electroacupuncture on the histopathological changes and serum indexes of rats' liver, and to investigate the mechanism of electroacupuncture in treating hepatic fibrosis of rats. Methods: The rat model of hepatic fibrosis was induced with carbon tetrachloride. Then, the rats were divided into electroacupuncture group, medicine group, and model group. The collagen of liver, and serum hyaluronic acid (HA), laminin (LN), procollagen (P NP), and collagen (C-) were detected with morphologic methods and radioimmunoassay. Results: Compared with normal rats, the collagen was hyperplasia in the liver tissue, and the contents of the serum HA, LN, and P NP were higher in the model group. The collagen area of liver tissue, and the contents of the serum HA, and LN were lower in rats treated with electroacupuncture than model rats. The contents of serum of P NP, and Cchanged little. Conclusion: Electroacupuncture had some effects of prevention and treatment, and the mechanism may relate to the effects of electroacupuncture in protecting liver cells, inhibiting synthesis of extracellular matrix, and promoting the breakup of collagen.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.