Moxibustion therapy guided by midnight-noon ebb-flow theory on Chinese patients with ankylosing spondylitis:a quasi-experimental study

Objective:This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of midnight-noon ebb-flow(MNEF)theory guided moxibustion therapy for ankylosing spondylitis(AS)in terms of physical function,disease activity,health-related quality of life,inflammatory cytokines,and immune function biomarkers.Methods:135 AS patients in Changzhou No.2 hospital affiliated to Nanjing Medical University were randomly allocated to the control group,Moxibustion Ⅰ group or the Moxibustion Ⅱgroup.AS patients in the control group received conventional intervention alone,while AS patients in the Moxibustion Ⅰ group and Moxibustion Ⅱ group received 4-week conventional moxibustion and MNEF theory-guided moxibustion therapy,respectively.Physical function,disease activity,health-related quality of life,inflammatory cytokines,and immune function biomarkers were assessed at baseline and at the endpoint week.Results:After moxibustion intervention,only performance of physical function measured by Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Functional Index(BASFI)(F=17.1,P<0.01),and disease activity by the Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Index(BASDAI)(F=17,P<0.01)were statistically significant differences between the three groups,and the Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Metrology Index(BASMI)score were no group differences(F=3.15,P=0.07).The effect of MNEF-theory based moxibustion was shown to be better than conventional moxibustion therapy in the level of erythrocyte sedimentation rate(ESR)(2.67,95%CI,0.15 to 5.18;P=0.04)and the radio of CD4+CD25+CD127 low(-2.83,95%CI,-4.68 to-0.98;P<0.01).However,with the use of the Tukey multiple comparisons test,compared with the conventional moxibustion therapy alone,MNEF-theory based moxibustion therapy had no statistically significant improvement in the serum levels of interleukin-6(IL-6),interleukin-17(IL-17),tumor necrosis factorα(TNF-α)(P>0.05).Conclusion:Overall,MNEF-theory guided moxibustion therapy significantly improved physical activity and health-related quality of life,reduced disease activity,and decreased systemic inflammation for AS patients.