• Humans
• Abdominal Pain/etiology
• Abdominal Pain/psychology
• Abdominal Pain/therapy
• Acupuncture Therapy/methods
• Irritable Bowel Syndrome/complications
• Irritable Bowel Syndrome/psychology
• Irritable Bowel Syndrome/therapy
• Quality of Life
• Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic
• Treatment Outcome

• Key Technologies Research and Development Program

• Electroacupuncture
• Neuron-Glia interaction
• P2X7R → P2Y1R → P2X3R inhibitory pathway
• Peripheral sensitization
• Visceral hypersensitivity

• zyyzdxk-2023068 High level Traditional Chinese Medicine Key Subjects of the State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine
• zyyzdxk-2023068 High level Traditional Chinese Medicine Key Subjects of the State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine
• 81873367 National Natural Science Foundation of China

• Functional gastrointestinal disorders
• gut-brain axis
• neuromodulation
• vagal nerve transmission

• Humans
• Quality of Life
• Transcutaneous Electric Nerve Stimulation/methods
• Gastrointestinal Diseases/therapy
• Vagus Nerve Stimulation/methods
• Spinal Nerves

• acupuncture
• analgesia
• irritable bowel syndrome
• neural mechanism
• visceral hypersensitivity

• National Key Research and Development Program of China
• National Natural Science Foundation of China
• Tianjin Municipal Health Commission

• acupuncture
• meta-analysis
• pain
• renal colic
• trial sequence analysis

• acupuncture
• component network meta-analysis
• irritable bowel syndrome

Diarrhea-predominant irritable bowel syndrome (IBS-D) is a functional gastrointestinal disorder that severely affects patients' life. Moxibustion is believed to be an effective way to treat IBS-D. However, the therapeutic effects and the underlying mechanisms in symptom management of IBS-D by different moxibustion therapies remain unclear.

IBS-D model rats were divided into groups and treated with ginger-partitioned moxibustion (GPM), mild moxibustion (MM), and laser moxibustion (LM) at a temperature of 43°C, respectively. The temperature curves of acupoints were recorded during interventions. The therapeutic effects were evaluated on the basis of general condition, stool, and hematoxylin-eosin staining of the colon tissue. Moreover, the expression of transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 (TRPV1) receptors in both acupoint tissue and colon tissue was analyzed by immunohistochemistry.

After moxibustion treatment, the symptoms were improved. The expression of TRPV1 was increased in acupoint tissue and decreased in colon tissue. GPM and MM showed a more significant influence on IBS-D rats compared with LM. The temperature profile of GPM and MM was wave-like, while LM had an almost stable temperature curve.

GPM, MM, and LM could improve the symptoms in IBS-D rats. Moxibustion might activate TRPV1 channels in the acupoint tissue and induce acupoint functions, which in turn inhibit the pathological activation state of the colon's TRPV1, followed by improvements in abdominal pain and diarrheal symptoms. LM with stable temperature might lead to the desensitization of TRPV1 receptors and the tolerance of acupoint. GPM and MM provided dynamic and repetitive thermal stimulations that perhaps induced acupoint sensitization to increase efficacy. Therefore, dynamic and repetitive thermal stimulation is recommended in the application of moxibustion.

• Adults
• Clinical practice
• Irritable bowel syndrome
• Network meta-analysis
• Nonpharmacological interventions
• Randomized controlled trials

• Acupuncture Therapy
• Adult
• Humans
• Irritable Bowel Syndrome/diagnosis
• Irritable Bowel Syndrome/therapy
• Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic
• Treatment Outcome

To explore whether the effect of electroacupuncture (EA) on visceral hypersensitivity (VH) in rats with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is related to the changes of astrocyte activation in the medial thalamus (MT) and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC).

Male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into the normal control (NC) group, model control (MC) group, electroacupuncture (EA) group, and fluorocitrate (FCA) group. A model of visceral hypersensitivity was established by neonatal colorectal irritation. In the EA group, needles were inserted into the skin at the Tianshu (ST25) and Shangjuxu (ST37) acupoints, once a day for 7 days. The FCA group received intrathecal injection of FCA on the 1st, 4th, and 7th days. Visceral hypersensitivity was evaluated by the abdominal withdrawal reflex (AWR), and glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) mRNA and protein levels in the MT and ACC were detected by real-time PCR, immunohistochemistry, and western blots.

The AWR score in the MC group was significantly higher than in the NC group, and EA and FCA reduced the AWR score of VH rats. GFAP mRNA and protein levels in the MT and ACC of rats in the MC group were significantly increased compared with the NC group. After either electroacupuncture or fluorocitrate, GFAP mRNA and protein levels in the MT and ACC were both clearly reduced.

Electroacupuncture alleviates IBS visceral hypersensitivity by inhibiting the activation of astrocytes in the MT and ACC.

• Electroacupuncture
• FMRI
• Frontal cortex
• Insula
• Overweight/obesity
• Resting-state functional connectivity

• Adult
• Cerebral Cortex/diagnostic imaging
• Cerebral Cortex/physiopathology
• Connectome
• Electroacupuncture
• Humans
• Magnetic Resonance Imaging
• Obesity/diagnostic imaging
• Obesity/physiopathology
• Obesity/therapy
• Outcome Assessment, Health Care
• Overweight/diagnostic imaging
• Overweight/physiopathology
• Overweight/therapy
• Prefrontal Cortex/diagnostic imaging
• Prefrontal Cortex/physiopathology
• Thalamus/diagnostic imaging
• Thalamus/physiopathology
• Weight Loss

Despite the wide use of acupuncture for the management of visceral pain and the growing interest in the pathophysiology of visceral pain, there is no conclusive elucidation of the mechanisms behind the effects of acupuncture on visceral pain. This systematic review aims to provide an integrative understanding of the treatment mechanism of acupuncture for visceral pain.

Electronic and hand searches were conducted to identify studies that involved visceral pain and acupuncture.

We retrieved 192 articles, out of which 46 studies were included in our review. The results of our review demonstrated that visceral pain behaviors were significantly alleviated in response to acupuncture treatment in groups treated with this intervention compared to in sham acupuncture or no-treatment groups. Changes in the concentrations of β-endorphin, epinephrine, cortisol, and prostaglandin E2 in plasma, the levels of c-Fos, substance P, corticotropin-releasing hormone, P2X3, acetylcholinesterase (AchE), N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors, and serotonin in the gut/spinal cord, and the neuronal activity of the thalamus were associated with acupuncture treatment in visceral pain.

Acupuncture reduced visceral pain behavior and induced significant changes in neuronal activity as well as in the levels of pain/inflammation-related cytokines and neurotransmitters in the brain-gut axis. Further researches on the thalamus and on a standard animal model are warranted to improve our knowledge on the mechanism of acupuncture that facilitates visceral pain modulation.

Pain can trigger central amplification called central sensitization, which ultimately results in hyperalgesia and/or allodynia. Many reports have showed acupuncture has an analgesic effect. We searched the related article on PubMed database and Cochrane database to discover central sensitization pathway in acupuncture analgesia. We summarized that acupuncture enhances the descending inhibitory effect and modulates the feeling of pain, thus modifying central sensitization. The possible mechanisms underlying the analgesic effects of acupuncture include segmental inhibition and the activation of the endogenous opioid, adrenergic, 5-hydroxytryptamine, and N-methyl-D-aspartic acid, α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid/kainate pathways. Moreover, acupuncture can locally reduce the levels of inflammatory mediators. In clinical settings, acupuncture can be used to treat headache, neuropathic pain, low back pain, osteoarthritis, and irritable bowel syndrome. These mechanisms of acupuncture analgesia may be involved in the alleviation of central sensitization.

• electroacupuncture
• functional gastrointestinal diseases
• gastrointestinal motility
• neuromodulation

The objective of this study was to compare the efficacy and side effects of acupuncture, sham acupuncture, and drugs in the treatment of diarrhoea-predominant irritable bowel syndrome.

Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) assessing the effects of acupuncture and drugs were comprehensively retrieved from electronic databases (such as PubMed, Cochrane Library, Embase, CNKI, Wanfang Database, VIP Database, and CBM) up to December 2017. Additional references were obtained from review articles. With document quality evaluations and data extraction, Network Meta-Analysis was performed using a random-effects model under a frequentist framework.

A total of 29 studies (n = 9369) were included; 19 were high-quality studies, and 10 were low-quality studies. NMA showed the following: (1) the ranking of treatments in terms of efficacy in diarrhoea-predominant irritable bowel syndrome is acupuncture, sham acupuncture, pinaverium bromide, alosetron = eluxadoline, ramosetron, and rifaximin; (2) the ranking of treatments in terms of severity of side effects in diarrhoea-predominant irritable bowel syndrome is rifaximin, alosetron, ramosetron = pinaverium bromide, sham acupuncture, and acupuncture; and (3) the treatment of diarrhoea-predominant irritable bowel syndrome includes common acupoints such as ST25, ST36, ST37, SP6, GV20, and EX-HN3.

Acupuncture may improve diarrhoea-predominant irritable bowel syndrome better than drugs and has the fewest side effects. Sham acupuncture may have curative effect except for placebo effect. In the future, it is necessary to perform highly qualified research to prove this result. Pinaverium bromide also has good curative effects with fewer side effects than other drugs.

Electroacupuncture (EA) has been used for treating visceral hypersensitivity (VH). However, the underlying molecular mechanism remains unclear. This study was aim to testify the effect of EA on ileitis-provoked VH, and to confirm whether EA attenuates VH through Janus kinase 2 (JAK2)/signal transducers and activators of transcription 3 (STAT3) signaling pathway in the periaqueductal gray (PAG)-the rostral ventromedial medulla (RVM)-the spinal cord dorsal horn (SCDH) axis.

Methods: Goats were anesthetized and laparotomized for injecting 2,4,6-trinitro-benzene-sulfonic acid (TNBS)-ethanol solution (30mg TNBS dissolved in 40% ethanol) into the ileal wall to induce VH. EA was treated for 30min from day 7, then every 3 days for six times. VH was assessed by visceromotor response (VMR) and pain behavior response to 20, 40, 60, 80, and 100 mmHg colorectal distension pressures at day 7, 10, 13, 16, 19, and 22. The spinal cord in the eleventh thoracic vertebra and the brain were collected at day 22. The protein and mRNA levels of IL-6, JAK2, and STAT3 in the SCDH were detected with western blot and qPCR, respectively. The distribution of these substances was observed with immunohistochemistry in the ventrolateral PAG (vlPAG), RVM (mainly the nucleus raphe magnus, NRM), SCDH, the nucleus tractus solitaries (NTS) and the dorsal motor nucleus of vagi (DMV).

Results: Goats administered with TNBS-ethanol solution showed diarrhea, enhanced VMR and pain behavior response, and increased IL-6, phosphorylated JAK2 and STAT3 (pJAK2 and pSTAT3) in the vlPAG, NRM, NTS and DMV, and their protein and mRNA levels in the SCDH. EA relieved diarrhea, VMR and pain behavior response, decreased IL-6, pJAK2 and pSTAT3 levels in the vlPAG, NRM, SCDH, NTS, and DMV except for pSTAT3 in the DMV, but did not affect mRNA level of these three substances in the SCDH.

Conclusion: EA attenuates VH probably through inhibiting JAK2/STAT3 signaling pathway in the PAG-RVM-SCDH axis.

• JAK2/STAT3 signaling pathway
• PAG-RVM-SCDH axis
• TNBS
• electroacupuncture (EA)
• visceral hypersensitivity (VH)
• visceromotor response (VMR)

• diarrhea
• electroacupuncture
• irritable bowel syndrome
• moxibustion
• randomized controlled trial

• Adult
• Anxiety
• Brain/physiology
• Cerebral Cortex/physiopathology
• Colon, Sigmoid/chemistry
• Depression
• Diarrhea/physiopathology
• Electroacupuncture
• Gastrointestinal Tract/physiology
• Gyrus Cinguli/physiopathology
• Humans
• Immunohistochemistry
• Intestinal Mucosa/chemistry
• Irritable Bowel Syndrome/physiopathology
• Irritable Bowel Syndrome/psychology
• Irritable Bowel Syndrome/therapy
• Magnetic Resonance Imaging
• Moxibustion
• Pain Measurement
• Prefrontal Cortex/physiopathology
• Receptors, Serotonin, 5-HT3/analysis
• Serotonin/analysis

• Adolescent
• Adult
• Aged
• Electroacupuncture
• Female
• Humans
• Irritable Bowel Syndrome/genetics
• Irritable Bowel Syndrome/metabolism
• Irritable Bowel Syndrome/therapy
• Male
• Middle Aged
• Moxibustion
• Substance P/genetics
• Substance P/metabolism
• Vasoactive Intestinal Peptide/genetics
• Vasoactive Intestinal Peptide/metabolism
• Young Adult

The 5-hydroxytryptamine (serotonin, or 5-HT) signaling system plays a key role in the gastrointestinal tract. There have been many studies on the 5-HT signaling system involved in the gastrointestinal tract. This article reviews the recent advances in the knowledge of 5-HT signaling pathways in the gastrointestinal tract, including 5-HT receptor types and subtypes, their distribution in the gastrointestinal tract, physiological and pathological roles of the 5-HT signal system in the gastrointestinal tract, and the change of the 5-HT signal pathway in the gastrointestinal tract. On the basis of the understanding of the above knowledge, we discuss how acupuncture and moxibustion regulate gastrointestinal diseases, especially IBS, through the 5-HT signal system.

• 5-hydroxytryptamine signal system
• Gastrointestinal tract
• Irritable bowel syndrome
• Acupuncture and moxibustion

In China, acupuncture has been considered an effective method for treating gastrointestinal (GI) dysfunction diseases for thousands of years. In fact, acupuncture has gained progressive acceptance from both practitioners and patients worldwide. However, the therapeutic effects and underlying mechanisms in treating GI dysfunction have not yet been established due to a lack of systematic and comprehensive review articles. Therefore, the aim of this review is to discuss the efficacy of acupuncture as a treatment for GI dysfunction and the associated underlying mechanisms. A search of PubMed was conducted for articles that were published over the past 10 years using the terms “acupuncture”, “gastrointestine”, and other relevant keywords. In the following review, we describe the effect and underlying mechanisms of acupuncture on GI function from the perspectives of GI motility, visceral sensitivity, the GI barrier, and the brain-gut axis. The dual regulatory effects of acupuncture may manifest by promoting gastric peristalsis in subjects with low initial gastric motility, and suppressing peristalsis in subjects with active initial motility. In addition, the regulation of acupuncture on gastric motility may be intensity-dependent. Our findings suggest that further studies are needed to investigate the effects and more systematic mechanisms in treating GI dysfunction, and to promote the application of acupuncture for the treatment of GI diseases.

• Acupuncture
• Gastrointestinal motility
• Gastrointestinal barrier
• Visceral sensitivity
• Brain-gut axis

• Abdominal Pain/physiopathology
• Abdominal Pain/therapy
• Acupuncture Therapy
• Animals
• Brain/physiopathology
• Enteric Nervous System/physiopathology
• Gastrointestinal Diseases/diagnosis
• Gastrointestinal Diseases/physiopathology
• Gastrointestinal Diseases/therapy
• Gastrointestinal Motility
• Gastrointestinal Tract/innervation
• Gastrointestinal Tract/physiopathology
• Humans
• Hyperalgesia/physiopathology
• Hyperalgesia/therapy
• Treatment Outcome

• IBS
• gastrointestinal
• models
• pain
• rodent

• Acupuncture Points
• Animals
• Animals, Newborn
• Central Nervous System/physiopathology
• Down-Regulation
• Electroacupuncture
• Enteric Nervous System/physiopathology
• Irritable Bowel Syndrome/complications
• Irritable Bowel Syndrome/physiopathology
• Male
• Pain Measurement
• Peripheral Nervous System/physiopathology
• RNA, Messenger/biosynthesis
• Rats
• Rats, Sprague-Dawley
• Receptors, Purinergic P2X3/biosynthesis
• Receptors, Purinergic P2X3/genetics
• Visceral Pain/etiology
• Visceral Pain/physiopathology
• Visceral Pain/therapy

Rats that modeled chronic visceral hyperalgesia received suspended moxibustion at bilateral Tianshu (ST25) and Shangjuxu (ST37) once daily over a period of 7 days. Results show that suspended moxibustion significantly depressed abdominal withdrawal reflex scores and increased enkephalin concentration in the spinal cord. The experimental findings suggest that spinal enkephalins contributed to the analgesic effect of suspended moxibustion in rats with chronic visceral hyperalgesia.

• chronic visceral hyperalgesia
• enkephalins
• irritable bowel syndrome
• suspended moxibustion

Electroacupuncture at Shangjuxu (ST37) and Tianshu (ST25) can improve visceral hypersensitivity in rats. Colorectal distension was used to establish a rat model of chronic visceral hypersensitivity. Immunohistochemistry was used to detect P2X₂ and P2X₃ receptor expression in dorsal root ganglia from rats with chronic visceral hypersensitivity. Results demonstrated that abdominal withdrawal reflex scores obviously increased following establishment of the model, indicating visceral hypersensitivity. Simultaneously, P2X₂ and P2X₃ receptor expression increased in dorsal root ganglia. After bilateral electroacupuncture at Shangjuxu and Tianshu, abdominal withdrawal reflex scores and P2X₂ and P2X₃ receptor expression decreased in rats with visceral hypersensitivity. These results indicated that electroacupuncture treatment improved visceral hypersensitivity in rats with irritable bowel syndrome by reducing P2X₂ and P2X₃ receptor expression in dorsal root ganglia.

• P2 purinergic receptors
• P2X2
• P2X3
• abdominal withdrawal reflex scores
• acupuncture and moxibustion
• electroacupuncture
• grants-supported paper
• irritable bowel syndrome
• neural regeneration
• neuroregeneration
• peripheral nerve injury
• photographs-containing paper
• visceral hypersensitivity

• P2X4 receptor
• acupuncture
• combination of He-Mu points
• electroacupuncture
• grants-supported paper
• irritable bowel syndrome
• neural regeneration
• neuroregeneration
• traditional Chinese medicine
• visceral hypersensitivity

• Acupuncture-moxibustion
• Brain-gut axis
• Gastrointestinal motility
• Irritable bowel syndrome
• Mechanism study
• Visceral hypersensitivity

• Acupuncture Therapy
• Animals
• Brain/physiology
• Endocrine Cells/physiology
• Gastrointestinal Motility
• Humans
• Hypersensitivity
• Intestines/physiopathology
• Irritable Bowel Syndrome/etiology
• Irritable Bowel Syndrome/physiopathology
• Irritable Bowel Syndrome/therapy
• Moxibustion
• Neurons/metabolism
• Neurons/physiology
• Neurosecretory Systems

Acupuncture and moxibustion, which medical doctors are licensed by the government of Japan to perform, can improve the psychological relationship between doctors and patients, especially when it is disturbed by a “game”, a dysfunctional interpersonal interaction that is repeated unintentionally. This advantage is due to the essential properties of acupuncture and moxibustion. Acupuncture and moxibustion are helpful in treating somatoform disorders, especially musculoskeletal symptoms. In Japan, a holistic acupuncture and moxibustion therapy called Sawada-style has been developed. This is based on fundamental meridian points that are considered to have effects on central, autonomic nervous, immune, metabolic, and endocrine systems to regulate the whole body balance. In addition, some of the fundamental points have effects on Qi, blood, and water patterns associated with major depression, generalized anxiety disorder, eating disorders, and somatoform disorders. The fixed protocol of Sawada-style would be suitable for large-scale, randomized, controlled studies in the future. Recent systematic reviews indicate that electroacupuncture would be a useful addition to antidepressant therapy for some symptoms accompanying fibromyalgia. Acupuncture and moxibustion are also recommended for irritable bowel syndrome, instead of Western drug therapy. Surprisingly, the dorsal prefrontal cerebral cortex, which is associated with a method of scalp acupuncture applied for gastrointestinal disorders, has been found to be activated in patients with irritable bowel syndrome. It is quite possible that regulation of this cortical area is related to the effect of scalp acupuncture. This acupuncture method can be effective not only for irritable bowel syndrome but also for other stress-related gastrointestinal disorders.

Acupuncture is a commonly used therapy for treating functional diarrhea (FD), although there is limited knowledge on the mechanism. The objectives of this study were to investigate the differences in brain activities elicited by acupuncture between FD patients and healthy controls (HC) so as to explore the possible mechanism. Eighteen FD patients and eighteen HC received 10 sessions of acupuncture treatment at ST25 acupoints. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scans were, respectively, performed before and after acupuncture. The defecation frequency, Bristol stool form scale (SBFS), and MOS 36-item Short Healthy Survey (SF-36) were employed to evaluate the clinical efficacy. After acupuncture, the FD patients showed a significant decrease in defecation frequency and BSFS score. The regional homogeneity (ReHo) map showed a decrease in the paracentral lobule and postcentral gyrus, and an increase in the angular gyrus, insula, anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), and precuneus in the FD group. Moreover, the changes in ReHo values in the ACC were correlated with the reduction in defecation frequency. Decreasing functional connectivity among the ACC, insula, thalamus, and orbital frontal cortex only existed in the FD group. Conclusively, acupuncture alleviated defecation frequency and improved stool formation in FD patients. The efficacy might result from the regulation of the homeostasis afferent processing network.

• Chronic visceral pain
• Genistein
• N-methyl-d-aspartic acid receptor 2B subunit
• Ro 25-6981
• Spinal cord
• Tyrosine kinase

ST25 is a key acupoint used in the treatment of ulcerative colitis by moxibustion stimulation, but the biophysical mechanism underlying its effects is still unknown. The aim of the present study was to explore the biophysical properties of ST25 acupoint stimulated by moxibustion in a rat model of ulcerative colitis. The infrared radiation intensity of fourteen wavelengths of ST25 showed significant differences between the normal and model control groups. The intensity of infrared radiation of forty wavelengths showed significant differences compared with the corresponding control points in normal rats. The intensity of infrared radiation of twenty-eight wavelengths showed significant differences compared with the corresponding control points in model rats. The intensity of infrared radiation of nine wavelengths in the herb-partition moxibustion group, eighteen wavelengths in the ginger-partition moxibustion group, seventeen wavelengths in the garlic-partition moxibustion group, and fourteen wavelengths in the warming moxibustion group of the left ST25 showed significant differences compared with that of the model control group. For the right-hand-side ST25, these values were 33, 33, 2, and 8 wavelengths, respectively. This indicated that one possible biophysical mechanism of moxibustion on ST25 in ulcerative colitis model rats might involve changes in the intensity of infrared radiation of ST25 at different wavelengths.

Background. Electro Acupuncture (EA) uses the acupuncture needle as an electrode to apply low-frequency stimulation. For its safe operation, it is essential to prevent any corrosion of the acupuncture needle. Objective. The aim of this study is to find an available material and determine the possibility of producing a standard EA needle that is biocompatible. Methods. Biocompatibility was tested by an MTT assay and cytotoxicity testing. Corrosion was observed with a scanning electron microscope (SEM) after 0.5 mA, 60 min stimulation. The straightness was measured using a gap length of 100 mm, and tensile testing was performed by imposing a maximum tensile load. Results. Phosphor bronze, Ni coated SS304, were deemed inappropriate materials because of mild-to-moderate cytotoxicity and corrosion. Ti-6Al-4V and SS316 showed no cytotoxicity or corrosion. Ti-6Al-4V has a 70 times higher cost and 2.5 times lower conductivity than SS316. The results of both straightness and tensile testing confirmed that SS316 can be manufactured as a standard product. Conclusion. As a result, we confirmed that SS316 can be used a new EA electrode material. We hope that a further study of the maximum capacity of low-frequency stimulation using an SS316 for safe operation.

• Acupuncture Points
• Animals
• Chronic Disease
• Colon/metabolism
• Electroacupuncture
• Electromyography
• Gene Expression Regulation
• Hypersensitivity/physiopathology
• Hypersensitivity/therapy
• Male
• RNA, Messenger/genetics
• RNA, Messenger/metabolism
• Rats
• Rats, Sprague-Dawley
• Receptors, Serotonin, 5-HT3/genetics
• Receptors, Serotonin, 5-HT3/metabolism
• Viscera/pathology
• Viscera/physiopathology

AIM: To evaluate the effect of suspended moxibustion (SM) on rectal sensory thresholds and to analyze the possible mechanisms involved in SM treatment of chronic visceral hypersensitivity (CVH) in rats.

METHODS: SM was administered once daily to 37-d-old CVH rats for 7 d. The two pairs of acupoints (ST25 and ST37, bilateral) were simultaneously treated with SM. Each treatment lasted for 30 min. Rats undergoing treatment with SM were not anesthetized. Untreated CVH rats and normal rats were used as controls. The abdominal withdrawal reflex was determined 30-90 min after the seven treatments. The hypothalamic corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) mRNA level was measured using real-time quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction.

RESULTS: We found that SM treatment significantly decreased visceral sensitivity to colorectal distention in this rat model. In treated animals, SM also decreased the relative hypothalamic CRH mRNA expression level to control levels.

CONCLUSION: Lower hypothalamic CRH levels may mediate the beneficial effects of SM in this rat irritable bowel syndrome model.

• Chronic visceral hypersensitivity
• Corticotropin-releasing hormone
• Irritable bowel syndrome
• Rat
• Suspended moxibustion

AIM: To conduct a systematic review examining the current state of experimental research of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) in China.

METHODS: IBS is a functional disorder of the gastrointestinal tract. Although numerous studies have investigated the pathophysiologic processes underlying IBS, the mechanisms underlying the pathogenesis of IBS remain poorly understood. In the present study, the Wanfang Med Online and China Knowledge Resource Integrated Database were searched to retrieve relevant literature to find reported animal models of IBS and identify factors affecting the pathogenesis of IBS.

RESULTS: Approximately 62.86% of IBS-related studies investigated the role of neurotransmitters and neuropeptides in IBS. Animal models of IBS were developed frequently by a single method or combined use of two methods, and rarely by combined use of multiple methods. There have been few studies conducting objective evaluation of the impact of animal gender and age on research findings obtained from animal models of IBS.

CONCLUSION: Researchers have not yet reached a uniform consensus about IBS-related experimental contents and the methods for development of animal models of IBS. More researchers tend to develop animal models of IBS by combined use of multiple methods with efforts to more truly mimic human IBS.

• Irritable bowel syndrome
• Mechanistic investigation
• Animal model