OBJECTIVE: To study the effects of moxibustion at different time points on serum level of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) in rats with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), and to explore its regulation mechanism on circadian rhythm. METHODS: A total of 96 Sprague-Dawley (SD) adult rats were randomly assigned into a blank group, a model group, a moxibustion at 5-7 AM group and a moxibustion at 5-7 PM group, 24 rats in each group, half male and half female. Each group was further divided into a 0 AM group, a 6 AM group, a 12 N group and a 6 PM group, 6 rats in each group. All rats were treated with the 12 h/12 h light-dark cycle in the whole process of experiment. Except for the blank group, all rats were treated with intracutaneous injection of freund's complete adjuvant (FCA) at right foot pad to establish the RA model. The rats at the two moxibustion groups were treated with grain-sized moxibustion at "Shenshu" (BL 23) and "Zusanli" (ST 36) at 5-7 AM and 5-7 PM, respectively, one side per treatment, once a day; six treatments were taken as one course and 3 courses were given with an interval of one day between courses. The rats in the remaining groups were treated with identical fixation but without moxibustion intervention. The right foot volume was measured before model establishment, after model establishment and after treatment. The blood samples were collected after treatment and the serum level of TNF-α was measured by ELISA. The SPSS 21.0 software and Halberg Cosinor were adopted to analyze the experiment data. RESULTS: After treatment, compared with the blank group, the foot swelling severity was significantly increased in the model group, moxibustion at 5-7 AM group and moxibustion at 5-7 PM group (all <0.01); compared with the model group, the foot swelling severity was significantly reduced in the moxibustion at 5-7 AM group and moxibustion at 5-7 PM group (both <0.01). Compared with the blank group, the serum level of TNF-α was increased significantly in the model group and moxibustion at 5-7 AM group (both <0.05); compared with the model group, the serum level of TNF-α was reduced significantly in the moxibustion at 5-7 AM group and moxibustion at 5-7 PM group (both <0.05). The serum level of TNF-α showed circadian rhythm in all the groups (all <0.05), and the peak appeared at night phase; compared with the blank group, the median value of TNF-α was increased significantly in the model group (<0.05), the peak phase was delayed and the amplitude was increased (<0.05); compared with the model group, the median value of TNF-α was significantly reduced in the moxibustion at 5-7 AM group and moxibustion at 5-7 PM group (<0.01), the peak phase was advanced and the amplitude was reduced (<0.05). CONCLUSION Moxibustion could effectively reduce the serum level of TNF-α to relieve the foot swelling severity in RA rats. Moxibustion could regulate the circadian rhythm of TNF-α to play its effects on the inhibition of the synthesis of TNF-α. No efficacy is observed between the treatment at 5-7 AM and 5-7 PM.
Acupuncture Points ; Animals ; Arthritis, Rheumatoid ; Circadian Rhythm ; Female ; Male ; Moxibustion ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha

OBJECTIVE To investigate the effect of gene polymorphism on opioid-induced constipation. METHODS The target genes related to opioid-induced constipation were screened out through searching guidelines， databases and evidence-based medical data， and then 100 cancer pain patients who received opioid drugs for analgesia were included as the study subjects. According to whether there were adverse effects of constipation after medication or not， they were divided into test group and control group， with 50 cases in each group. The target gene was detected by PCR or fluorescence in situ hybridization. The SNPStats program was used to carry out Hardy-Weinberg balance test and correlation analysis between gene polymorphism and opioid-induced constipation. The multivariate Logistic regression analysis was used to explore the relevant predictive factors of opioid-induced constipation， and receiver operating characteristic （ROC） curve of subjects was drawn to analyze the effectiveness of each predictive factor in predicting opioid-induced constipation. RESULTS CYP2D6， CYP3A5*3， ABCB1 and OPRM1 were selected as target genes for detection. The results of genotype detection showed that the frequency distribution of CYP2D6 （rs1065852， rs1135822， rs16947， rs28371725， rs28371735）， CYP3A5*3 （058rs776746）， ABCB1 （062rs1045642）， OPRM1 （047rs1799971） alleles were consistent with Hardy-Weinbergbalance test. The correlation analysis results showed that the proportion of genotype GG and AG in CYP3A5*3 （058rs776746， 163.com A＞G） and genotype AA and AG in OPRM1 （047rs1799971， A＞G） of patients was significantly higher in test group than that in the control group （P＜0.05）. Multivariate Logistic regression analysis showed that medication duration， CYP3A5*3 and OPRM1 gene polymorphism could be used as predictors of opioid- induced constipation in patients （P＜0.05）. The ROC curve analysis results showed that the areas under the ROC curves for medication duration and CYP3A5*3， OPRM1 gene polymorphism were 0.648， 0.640 and 0.670， respectively， with the optimal cutoff values of 124.0， 0.5 and 0.5， respectively. CONCLUSIONS Genotype GG and AG in CYP3A5*3 （058rs776746，A＞G） and genotype AA and AG in OPRM1 （047rs1799971，A＞G） are associated with opioid-induced constipation， which are expected to become clinical predictors of opioid-induced constipation， and more attention should be paid to the occurrence of constipation in patients who have been taking opioids for a long time.