Xiao Xu: School of Nursing, Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, China.
Ya-Nan Shi: School of Nursing, Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, China.
Rong-Yun Wang: School of Nursing, Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, China.
Cai-Yan Ding: Department of Nursing, The Affiliated Changzhou No.2 People's Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Changzhou, Jiangsu Province, China.
Xiao Zhou: Department of Nursing, The Affiliated Changzhou No.2 People's Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Changzhou, Jiangsu Province, China.
Yu-Fei Zhang: School of Nursing, Changzhou University, Changzhou, Jiangsu Province, China.
Zhi-Ling Sun: School of Nursing, Nanjing university of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, China.
Zhi-Qin Sun: Department of Nursing, The Affiliated Changzhou No.2 People's Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Changzhou, Jiangsu Province, China.
Qiu-Hua Sun: School of Nursing, Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, China.
BACKGROUND: Moxibustion is widely used in East Asian countries to manage the symptom of rheumatic diseases. The aim of this study was to identify potential metabolic profiles of moxibustion on relieving ankylosing spondylitis (AS) mice through UHPLC-Q-TOF/MS metabolomic study. METHODS: Thirty-two female Balb/c mice were randomized into healthy control (HC), AS model, moxibustion at acupuncture points (MA) in AS model, and moxibustion at non-acupuncture points (MNA) AS model groups. Moxibustion was administered daily at GV4, bilateral BL23 and bilateral ST36 acupuncture points for four weeks in the MA group. The overall health status, the thickness of hind paws and the tissue concentrations of IL-1β, PGE, IL-6 and TNF-α were assessed. The UHPLC-Q-TOF/MS was used to explore the perturbations of endogenous metabolites in tissue and urine of AS model mice intervened by moxibustion. RESULTS: Compared with the AS group, the overall health status was significantly improved after 4-week moxibustion intervention ( < 0.05) The results also showed that MA significantly reduced the levels of paw thickness and decreased the levels of four cytokines in the tissue ( < 0.01). Thirty-seven endogenous metabolites identified by the OPLS-DA were considered to be contributing to therapeutic effects of moxibustion. Moreover, metabolic pathway analysis further revealed that the identified metabolites were mainly involved in TCA cycle, Lipid metabolism, Amino Acid metabolism, Intestinal flora metabolism and Purine metabolism. CONCLUSIONS: UHPLC-Q-TOF/MS based metabolomics approach, as a novel and powerful tool, can help us to gain the insights into potential mechanisms of action of moxibustion for AS.
