Abstract
The aim of this study is to investigate the response of local and distal skin temperature to moxibustion stimulation (MS) and explore the effects of MS on sympathetic nerve activity. The distal skin temperatures of fingertips, as an indicator for sympathetic reflex response, were recorded using infrared camera during resting period (10 min), MS period (10 min), and natural cooling period (15 min), respectively. The MS without ash cleaning (AC) was applied to acupoints Quze (PC3) (Group I) and Lao Gong (PC8) (Group II), respectively. In Group III, the MS with the operation of AC was performed on PC8. The temperature responses of the local stimulation points and corresponding control points were also investigated. At the beginning of MS period, a significant increase of temperature on the stimulation point accompanied by a simultaneous reduction of temperature on fingertips was observed. A marked negative correlation was also obtained between temperature changes in the stimulation point and in the fingertips. At the end of natural cooling period (t = 34 min), the temperature of stimulation point was obviously higher than baseline values. In contrast, the temperatures of fingertips increased and then returned to the baseline levels during the second minute of MS period. In Group III, the temperature of stimulation point increased every time with the operation of AC, accompanied by the temperature decrease of middle fingertip. The findings suggest that moxibustion may trigger the sympathetic nervous system and induce the reduction of microcirculation, accompanied by a reduction of fingertip temperature. In addition, the operation of AC caused repeated cycles of thermal stimulation on the stimulation point, which may repetitively activate cutaneous sympathetic nerve fibres and evoke the temperature reduction of fingertips.
Highlights
Moxibustion plays an important role in Traditional Chinese Medicine treatments, which treats and prevents diseases by burning a herb preparation containing Moxa (Artemisia vulgaris, Mugwort) to stimulate the meridians of human body [1]
Lin et al [19] measured that the maximum rise of skin surface temperature at SP6 induced by moxibustion was 11∘C at 4 min during moxibustion stimulation (MS) period, which generally agrees with the results of this study (Figure 7)
The temperature responses of stimulation points and three fingertips were monitored during MS by means of infrared camera
Summary
Moxibustion plays an important role in Traditional Chinese Medicine treatments, which treats and prevents diseases by burning a herb preparation containing Moxa (Artemisia vulgaris, Mugwort) to stimulate the meridians of human body [1]. Research has been conducted to investigate the thermal effect of moxibustion on local temperature and blood flow [7,8,9,10]. Noguchi et al [9] found a two-phase response in blood flow, a transient decrease followed by an increase without blood pressure change, when applying moxibustion-like thermal stimulation to the gastrocnemius muscle. Their analysis demonstrated that the increase in blood flow occurred due to an axon reflex that had a reflex arc below the spinal cord, and the transient decrease in blood flow was induced by excitation of postganglionic muscle sympathetic fibres
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