Objective: To probe the mechanism of herbs-partitioned moxibustion for treatment of ulcerative colitis.
Methods: The rats with ulcerative colitis were randomly divided into 3 groups, normal control group, model group, and herbs-partitioned moxibustion group. The rats in the herbs-partitioned moxibustion group were treated by herbs-partitioned moxibustion at bilateral Tianshu (ST 25). BiostarR-40s gene chip was applied to detect the differentially expressed gene of their colonic tissues and fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction was employed to confirm the results of the microarray analysis with interleukin-1 beta messenger RNA (IL-1beta mRNA) expression.
Results: Of 174 differential expression genes identified, 28 genes (including 7 known genes) elevated in rats of ulcerative colitis were down-regulated and 146 genes (including 42 known genes) reduced in the rat of ulcerative colitis were up-regulated after herbs-partitioned moxibustion treatment.
Conclusion: Many abnormally expressed genes are involved in occurrence of ulcerative colitis and herbs-partitioned moxibustion can regulate expression of IL-1beta and other genes to exert therapeutic effect.