Herb-partitioned moxibustion alleviates colon injuries in ulcerative colitis rats

Figure 1 Illustration of herb-partitioned moxibustion. An herbal cake was placed on Tianshu (ST25) point with a moxa cone on the top to ignite. This point is located at the lower 1/3 between the xiphoid process and the midpoint of the pubic symphysis, 0.5 cm away.

Figure 2 General condition, morphological observation and injury score of colon tissues in each group. A: Weight change of rats in each group; B: Gross injury score of rat colon in each group; C: Histological score of rat colon in each group; D: Histological and morphological structure under microscope by hematoxylin-eosin staining (Amplification × 100). NG (I): Normal group, MG (II): Model group; HPMG (III): Herb-partitioned moxibustion group. Data are presented as the mean ± SD, n = 8 per group. ^bP < 0.01 (vs normal group); ^cP < 0.01 (vs model group).

Figure 3 Protein abundances of colonic cytokines in each group. A: MG vs NG in comparing the change in mean protein abundance, and the cytokines with an obvious change are shown in the figure; B: HPMG vs MG in comparing the change in mean protein abundance, and the cytokines with an obvious change are shown in the figure. The significantly down-regulated proteins are marked in red (the focus of this study). NG: Normal group; MG: Model group; HPMG: Herb-partitioned moxibustion group.

Figure 4 Clustering heatmap of colonic cytokines in each group. Red stands for those higher than the average density (marked in dark); green for those lower than the average density. n = 3 rats per group. N: Normal group; M: Model group; HPM: Herb-partitioned moxibustion group.

Figure 5 Clustering heatmap of the specific differential cytokines in each group. Red stands for those higher than the average density (marked in dark); green for those lower than the average density. n = 3 rats per group. N: Normal group; M: Model group; HPM: Herb-partitioned moxibustion group.

Figure 6 KEGG pathway analysis of the cytokines related to the development of ulcerative colitis. A: Eleven of all the major signaling pathways of the up-regulated cytokines in the model group (compared with the normal group) are involved in the interaction between cytokines and their receptors (36.7%); B: Of the major signaling pathways of the down-regulated cytokines in the model group (compared with the normal group), 13 pathways regulate the interaction between cytokines and their receptors (39.4%) (Supplementary Tables 4 and 5).

Figure 7 KEGG pathway analysis of the cytokines related to the action of herb-partitioned moxibustion. A: Among the major signaling pathways related to the up-regulated cytokines in the herb-partitioned moxibustion group (compared with the model group), five pathways were involved in the interaction between cytokines and their receptors (55.6%); B: Of the major signaling pathways related to the down-regulated cytokines in the herb-partitioned moxibustion group (compared with the model group), 27 pathways were involved in the interaction between cytokines and their receptors (38%) (Supplementary Tables 6 and 7).

Figure 8 Validation of the specific differential cytokines. A: Expression of IL-1β protein in colon; B: Expression of IL-1Rrp2/IL-1R6 protein in colon; C: Expression of Fas protein in colon; D: Expression of FasL protein in colon. Data are presented as the mean ± SD, n = 8 rats per group. ^bP < 0.01, ^aP < 0.05, (vs normal group); ^cP < 0.01 (vs model group). NG: Normal group; MG: Model group; HPMG: Herb-partitioned moxibustion group.