Adjustment of Moxibustion on Serum Level of IL-17， RANKL and TGF-β in RA Rats

OBJECTIVE To explore the IL-17 signal transduction mechanism of anti-inflammatory effect of moxibustion on RA rats. METHODS 66 SD rats were randomly assigned to control， model， control+moxa， moxa， IL-17 overexpression+moxa， IL-17 knockdown+moxa， IL-17 overexpression and IL-17 knockdown groups. Complete freund's adjuvant were injected into the right paw of SD rats to establish RA model， and siRNAs were injected for IL-17 overexpression/knockdown models. After 7d， moxibustion treatments were performed for 18d. RESULTS The swelling degree of RA rats and the serum level of IL-17 and RANKL were significantly higher than control group(P<0.01)， and the PWTL of RA rats，serum level of TGF-β were significantly lower than control group. After 18d of moxibustion treatment， the swelling degree of RA rats and the serum level of IL-17，RANKL were significantly lower than control group(P<0.01)，and the PWTL of RA rats and serum level of TGF-β were significantly higher than control group. In addition， the serum level of RANKL in IL-17 knockdown+moxa rats were significantly higher than moxa group(P<0.01); the serum level of RANKL in IL-17 knockdown+moxa rats were significantly lower than moxa group and control group（P<0.01）. CONCLUSION Moxibustion may adjust the serum level of RANKL and TGF-β by supressed the serum level of IL-17 therefore relieving RA in RA rats.