Evaluation of clinical efficacy and mechanisms of Governor Vessel moxibustion therapy on carotid atherosclerosis

Abstract

To explore the clinical efficacy and possible efficacy mechanisms of Governor Vessel moxibustion therapy in patients with carotid atherosclerosis (CAS). A total of 100 patients with CAS were randomly divided into Governor Vessel moxibustion therapy group (n=51) and control group (n=49). The patients in the Governor Vessel moxibustion therapy group were treated by herbal cake-partitioned moxibustion ［applied on Governor Vessel from Dazhui (GV14) to Yaoshu (GV2)］, once a week, for 8 weeks. Patients in the control group received oral administration of atorvastatin calcium tablets (10 mg) once daily for 8 weeks. Before and after treatment, the patients' constitution quantized score, body mass index (BMI), carotid intima-media thickness (IMT) and laboratory indicators ［including total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), low density lipoprotein (LDL), homocysteine (Hcy), fibrinogen (Fbg), and hypersensitive C-reactive protein (hs-CRP)］ were observed, and their clinical efficacy was evaluated. After the treatment, the constitution score and BMI were significantly reduced, and the IMT, TC, TG, LDL, Fbg and hs-CRP decreased significantly in the patients of the two groups as compared with those before treatment (P<0.05); and the constitution score and BMI were obviously lower in the Governor Vessel moxibustion therapy group than in the control group (P<0.05). In the Governor Vessel moxibustion therapy group, the effective rate of constitution score was 88.2% (45/51), the effective rate of weight loss was 54.9% (28/51), while the control group was 61.2% (30/49) and 34.7% (17/49) respectively, those in the Governor Vessel moxibustion therapy group were significantly higher than in the control group (P<0.05). Regarding to the CAS clinical effect, the effective rate was 80.4% (41/51) in the Governor Vessel moxibustion therapy group, and it was 73.5% (36/49) in the control group. There was no significant difference between the two groups in the CAS effective rate (P>0.05). The Governor Vessel moxibustion therapy can effectively treat CAS, and its mechanism may be related to the improvement of risk factors such as high level of TC, TG, LDL, Fbg, and hs-CRP.