Regulatory effect of moxibustion for rats with ulcerative colitis on the macrophage functional phenotype protein of lung tissueRegulatory effect of moxibustion for rats with ulcerative colitis on the macrophage functional phenotype protein of lung tissue

Objective： To observe the regulatory effect of moxibustion on the expression of CD86 and CD163, which are the important functional phenotypes of macrophage differentiation in lung tissue of ulcerative colitis（UC） rats. The mechanism of the regulatory effect of moxibustion for macrophage differentiation based on the key cytokine interferon-gamma（IFN-γ）, tumor necrosis death factor-alpha（TNF-α）, interleukin- 4（IL-4） and interleukin-13（IL-13） was also explored. Methods： Forty SD rats were randomly divided into a normal group（NG）, a model group（MG）, a normal moxibustion group（NMG） and a smokeless moxibustion group（SMG）. The model of UC was made by antigen immunization combined with enema with topical formalin. The rats in the normal moxibustion group accepted moxibustion at bilateral Tianshu（ST 25）, while the rats in the smokeless moxibustion group with smokeless moxibustion at bilateral Tianshu（ST 25）, each 10 min, once a day for 8 d. After treatments, the hematoxylin-eosin（HE） staining was used to observe the pathological changes of colonic tissue, the Western blotting（WB） was used to observe the expression of CD86 and CD163, two important functional phenotypes of macrophage differentiation in lung tissue of UC rats, while the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay（ELISA） was used to assess the content of IFN-γ, TNF-α, IL-4 and IL-13, the key cytokines of macrophage differentiation in micro environment of the lung tissue. Results： Compared with the NG, the colons of rats in MG were injured more seriously, and the scores of gross observation and histological examination were significantly higher（P〈0.05）. Compared with the MG, the pathological changes of the two groups of rats with moxibustion treatment were improved, which presented with ulcer repair, inflammation dissipation, and the general score and histological score of the two groups were decreased（P〈0.05）. Compared with the NG, the expression of CD86 in the lung tissue of rats in the MG was increased（P〈0.05）, and CD163 expression was decreased（P〈0.05）. Compared with the MG and the SMG, the expression of CD86 in the lung tissue of the rats in the NMG was significantly lower than those in the MG and SMG, and CD163 was higher（P〈0.05）, while the differences were not statistically significant between the MG and the SMG（P〈0.05）. Compared with the NG, the expression of key cytokines in lung tissue of MG was abnormal, the contents of IFN-γ and TNF-α increased（P〈0.05）, while the IL-4 and IL-13 decreased（P〈0.05）. The IL-4 and IL-13 were significantly increased in lung tissue of rats in the NMG（P〈0.05）, and the IFN-γ and TNF-α were reduced（P〈0.05）, compared with those in the MG and the SMG, while the differences were not statistically significant between the MG and the SMG（P〈0.05）. Conclusion： Moxibustion can increase the expression of CD163, the important functional phenotype of macrophages in lung tissue of UC rats, and the differentiation critical cytokines IL-4 and IL-13. It can also reduce activated phenotype CD86 and its differentiation critical cytokines IFN-γ and TNF-α in the lung tissue of UC rats.