Effect of Moxibustion at Different Temperatures on the Difference of Microcirculatory Blood Perfusion at Commonly-used Abdominal Points Area

OBJECTIVE To observe the rules and characteristics of microcirculatory blood perfusion at commonly-used abdominal points area under normal physiological conditions， and compare the effect of moxibustion at different temperatures on microcirculation. METHODS 52 health young volunteers were included (male， 18 cases; female， 34 cases). Laser Doppler flowmetry was applied to measure the skin microcirculation values of their abdominal points including Shenque (CV8)， Huangshu (KI16)， Tianshu (ST25)， Daheng (SP15)， Shuifen (CV9)， Qihai (CV6)， Guanyuan (CV4) and ZhongWan (CV12). Then， Shenque (CV8) and Tianshu (ST25) were selected and intervened by moxibustion at different temperatures (40~43℃ and >43℃， <44℃)， and the moxibustion was performed 7 times continuously， at 2 kinds of temperatures for 2min each time. Effects of moxibustion at different temperatures on kin microcirculation of these two points were observed. RESULTS ①Under normal physiological conditions， microcirculation value of Shenque point (CV8) was obviously higher than that of other points (P<0.01). Microcirculation value of Huangshu point (KI16) was higher than that of Tianshu point (ST25) and Daheng point (SP15). Microcirculation value of Tianshu point (ST25) was higher than that of Daheng point (SP15). ②After moxibustion， both microcirculation values of Shenque point (CV8) and Tianshu point (ST25) increased， and both the differences of mean and maximum microcirculation values of Shenque point (CV8) were higher than that of pre-moxibustion at two temperatures. Under the stimulation of moxibustion， microcirculation value of Shenque point (CV8) changed earlier and reached platform later compared with Tianshu point (ST25). The response of microcirculation value of Shenque point (CV8) was more sensitive to temperature changes than Tianshu point (ST25). CONCLUSION Among commonly-used abdominal points， skin microcirculation value of Shenque point (CV8) is the highest， skin microcirculation values of abdominal points that horizontally paralleled with umbilicus tend to be higher if it is closer to umbilicus. With the same warm moxibustion condition， increasing speed， range and duration of skin microcirculation value of Shenque point (CV8) are higher compared with Tianshu point (ST25). It is preliminary clear that among the commonly-used abdominal points， Shenque point (CV8) has particularity and superiority in microcirculation， which provides effective evidence support for the specificity of the microcirculation structure.