This study was designed to observe the morphological changes of adjuvant arthrltic rats treated bymoxibustion. 22 male Wistar rats were injected Freund’s adjuvant, then they were divided into threegroups: The contro1 group: without any treatment. The moxibustion 1: selecting "Shen Shu" point andthe ankle joint. The moxibustlon n: only "shen shu" polnt. The results showed that the swelling ofthe ankle joint was significantly reduced(P< 0.05 ) and pathological changes were improved in moxibustion I. The results suggest that the moxibustion of "Shen Shu" will be helpful to anti-inflammationand immunity, and it is better to combine the moxibustion of the
In order to investigate the mechanisms of anti-inflammation and immunity of moxibustion, experiments in animals were made. The results showed the effects of moxibustion were as follows: (1) inhibiting edema and exudation in acute inflamrnation, (2)preventing and treating proliferation of granulomain subacute inflammation, (3)resisting inflammation and decreasing swelling in chronic inflammation,(4)protecting n1urine thymus and spleen in decllning immune function, (5 ) promoting proliferative responses of splenocytes in adjuvant arthritic (AA) rats, (6 ) possessing the effect of dual-directional regulation on cell factors which induce AA rats to be immune disorder. This study indicates that moxibustion has remarkable anti-inflammatory and immunoregulative effects. It may be and important aspect ofmechanism to prevent and treat