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Acupuncture and Moxibustion Inhibited Intestinal Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition in Patients with Crohn’s Disease Induced by TGF- β 1/Smad3/Snail Pathway: A Clinical Trial Study

  • Acupuncture Research
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Chinese Journal of Integrative Medicine Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Objective

To explore whether acupuncture combined with moxibustion could inhibit epithelialmesenchymal transition in Crohn’s disease by affecting the transforming growth factor β 1 (TGF- β 1)/Smad3/Snail pathway.

Methods

Sixty-three patients with Crohn’s disease were randomly divided into an observation group (31 cases) receiving moxibustion at 43 °C combined with acupuncture, and a control group (32 cases) receiving moxibustion at 37 °C combined with sham acupuncture using a random number table. Patients were treated for 12 weeks. Crohn’s Disease Activity Index (CDAI) was used to evaluate disease activity. Hematoxylin-eosin staining and transmission electron microscopy were utilized to observe the morphological and ultrastructural changes. Immunohistochemistry was used to detect the expression of transforming growth factor β 1 (TGF-β 1), T β R1, T β R2, Smad3, Snail, E-cadherin and fibronectin in intestinal mucosal tissues.

Results

The decrease of the CDAI score, morphological and ultrastructural changes were more significant in observation group. The expression levels of TGF- β 1, Tβ R2, Smad3, and Snail in the observation group were significantly lower than those before the treatment (P<0.05 or P<0.01). After treatment, the expression levels of TGF-β 1, TβR2, and Snail in the observation group were significantly lower than those in the control group (all P<0.05); compared with the control group, the expression of fibronectin in the observation group was significantly decreased, and the expression of E-cadherin was significantly increased (all P<0.05).

Conclusions

Moxibustion at 43 °C combined with acupuncture may suppress TGF-β 1/Smad3/Snail pathway-mediated epithelial-mesenchymal transition of intestinal epithelial cells in Crohn’s disease patients by inhibiting the expression levels of TGF-β 1, Tβ R2, Smad3, and Snail. (Registration No. ChiCTR-IIR-16007751)

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate School, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, 201203, China

    Sen Guo, Liang Zhang, Yan-ling Gao & Pin Wu

  2. Department of Acupuncture and Moxibustion, Shanghai Shanghai Traditional Chinese Medicine Integrated Hospital, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, 200082, China

    **g Zhou

  3. Department of Acupuncture and Moxibustion, Yueyang Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine Affiliated to Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, 200437, China

    Chun-hui Bao, Ji-meng Zhao, Zhi-jun Weng & Yin Shi

  4. Key Laboratory of Acupuncture and Immunological Effects, Shanghai Research Institute of Acupuncture and Meridian, Shanghai, 200030, China

    Chun-hui Bao, Ji-meng Zhao & Zhi-jun Weng

  5. Outpatient Department, Shanghai Research Institute of Acupuncture and Meridian, Shanghai, 200030, China

    Yin Shi

Authors
  1. Sen Guo
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  2. **g Zhou
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  3. Liang Zhang
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  4. Chun-hui Bao
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  5. Ji-meng Zhao
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  6. Yan-ling Gao
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  7. Pin Wu
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  8. Zhi-jun Weng
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  9. Yin Shi
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Contributions

Shi Y designed the study, Zhou J, Zhao JM, Wu P and Gao YL contributed to the patient enrollment, Bao CH and Weng ZJ performed the moxibustion and acupuncture procedure, Guo S and Zhou J performed the assays, Guo S and Zhang L analyzed the data, Guo S wrote the manuscript, Shi Y conducted the study and revised the manuscript collected data. All authors read and approved the final version of the manuscript submitted for publication.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yin Shi.

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Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 81674069 and 81473757)

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Guo, S., Zhou, J., Zhang, L. et al. Acupuncture and Moxibustion Inhibited Intestinal Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition in Patients with Crohn’s Disease Induced by TGF- β 1/Smad3/Snail Pathway: A Clinical Trial Study. Chin. J. Integr. Med. 28, 823–832 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11655-022-2888-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11655-022-2888-1

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