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| Tongdu Tiaoshen moxibustion alleviates intestinal inflammation and barrier injury in spinal cord injured rats based on the NF-κB/NLRP3 inflammasome pathway |
| Hits 203 Download times 60 Received:August 25, 2025 |
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| DOI
10.11656/j.issn.1672-1519.2026.01.17 |
| Key Words
Tongdu Tiaoshen moxibustion;spinal cord injury;NF-κB / NLRP3 inflammasome pathway;intestinal inflammation; intestinal barrier injury |
| Author Name | Affiliation | E-mail | | TAN Bingzhuo | Anhui University of Chinese Medicine, Hefei 230038, China | | | SUN Shanbin | The Second Affiliated Hospital of Anhui University of Chinese Medicine, Hefei 230061, China | zjssb@sina.com | | LIANG Yueguang | The Second Affiliated Hospital of Anhui University of Chinese Medicine, Hefei 230061, China | | | LIN Quanyou | Anhui University of Chinese Medicine, Hefei 230038, China | |
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| Abstract
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| [Objective] To investigate the mechanism by which governor vessel-regulating and spirit-nourishing moxibustion alleviates intestinal inflammation and barrier damage in rats with spinal cord injury（SCI） through modulation of the NF-κB / NLRP3 inflammasome pathway. [Methods] Forty-five SD rats were randomly divided into sham-operated，model，and moxibustion groups，with 15 rats in each group. SCI was induced using the modified Allen’s method. The moxibustion group received suspended moxibustion at the Governor Vessel acupoints“Baihui”（GV20），“Dazhui”（GV14）and“Mingmen”（GV4）. After 14 days of intervention，colon tissues were collected；pathological morphology was examined by HE staining；ELISA was used to measure the contents of tumor necrosis factor-α（TNF-α），interleukin-6（IL-6），interleukin-23（IL-23），interleukin-1β（IL-1β）and interleukin-18（IL-18）. Western blot was performed to detect the protein expression of nuclear factor-κB p65 subunit（NF-κB p65），CC chemokine ligand 2（CCL2）， aryl hydrocarbon receptor（Ahr），Claudin-1 and zonula occludens-1（ZO-1）. RT-qPCR was conducted to quantify the mRNA levels of NF-κB，NLRP3 and Caspase-1. [Results] In the model group，the colonic mucosal structure was disrupted，inflammatory cells infiltrated，the contents of TNF-α，IL-6，IL-1β，IL-18 and IL-23 were significantly elevated（P<0.05），and the protein expression of Claudin-1 and ZO-1 was decreased（P<0.05），indicating colonic inflammation and impaired intestinal barrier；the expression of NF-κB p65 and CCL2 proteins and the mRNA levels of NFκB，NLRP3 and Caspase1 were markedly increased（P<0.05），whereas Ahr protein was reduced（P<0.05）. After Tongdu Tiaoshen moxibustion，the contents of the above inflammatory factors decreased，the expression of barrier proteins（Claudin-1 and ZO-1）and Ahr was significantly restored（P<0.05），and the expression of molecules associated with the NF-κB/NLRP3 pathway was down-regulated（P<0.05）. [Conclusion] Tongdu Tiaoshen moxibustion can attenuate spinal cord injury-induced intestinal inflammation and repair barrier damage by inhibiting NF-κB/NLRP3 inflammasome activation， reducing pro-inflammatory cytokine release and up-regulating the expression of tight-junction proteins and Ahr. |
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