WANG  Shuju,WANG Qi,MA Jun,YU Pei hao,WANG Zhongming,WANG Bin

( College of Acupuncture- Moxibustion and Orthopedics, Hubei University of Chinese Medicine/Hubei Provincial  Collaborative Innovation Center  of Preventive Treatment by Acupuncture  and Moxibustion , Wuhan  430061,  China

Abstract:  Objective: To  observe the effects of  moxibustion treatment  on the expression of p-mtor、p-4EBP1 and α-synuclein in substantia nigra of rat model with Parkinson's disease,and  explore the mechanism of  moxibustion  treatment  for  PD.  Methods：  A  total  of  60  healthy  male  SD  rats  were  randomly  and averagely divided into normal group, sham-operation group, model group and moxibustion group, with 15 rats  in  each  group.  PD  rat  model  was  induced  by  subcutaneous  injection  of  rotenone  dissolved  into sunflower oil emulsion at the back of the neck  (2  mg/ml), and rats in the sham-operation group were injected with sun-flower oil that did not include  rotenone. Rats in normal group were not treated. Rats in moxibustion group  were  treated  by  moxibustion  at  "Zusanli"  (double)、"Guanyuan"  and  "Fengfu"  ,  once  a  day,  10 minutes everytime, 7 days for a course of treatment, continuous treatment for two courses. After the end of treatment, the rats were tested for their behavior, then Western blot was used to detect changes of the levels of p-mtor and p-4EBP1 in substantia nigra and immunohistochemistry was used to observe the expression of  a-synuclein  in  substantia  nigra.  Results:  The  rats  in  the  model  group  appeared  obvious  abnormal behavior, and after moxibustion treatment,  behavior scores of rats significantly decreased in moxibustion group  compared  with  the  model  group  (P<0.01).Compared  with  the  normal  group  and  sham-operation group, the levels of a-synuclein , p-mtor and p-4EBP1 increased significantly in model group  (P<0.01); Compared with the model group, after treatment, the levels of a-synuclein, p-mtor and p-4EBP1 decreased obviously in moxibustion group  (P<0.01).  Conclusion: Moxibustion at Zusanli  (double), Guanyuan and Fengfu can reduce the level of a-synuclein in substantia nigra of model rats and improve the behavioral performance of model rats. One of the endogenous mechanisms may through inhibiting the over activation of the mTOR/4EBP1 pathway to reduce the excess expression of α-synuclein and relive the toxicity for DA neurons.

Key words: Moxibustion, Parkinson's disease, p-mtor, p-4EBP1, α-syn