Effect of moxibustion on T lymphocyte subsets in peripheral blood of rats with gastric cancer

Objective To observe the effect of moxibustion on T lymphocyte subsets in peripheral blood of rats with gastric cancer. Methods Sixty healthy Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were adaptively fed for one week. By the random number table method, 10 rats were randomly selected as a blank group, and 12 rats were randomly selected to simulate the tumor transplantation process; after transplantation, 10 rats were randomly selected as a sham operation group. The remaining 38 rats were used to prepare gastric cancer models by gastric transplantation of the Walker-256 tumor tissue; 8 rats were randomly selected to verify the successful modeling after 7 d; the remaining 30 rats were randomly divided into a model group, a moxibustion group and an infrared group by the random number table method, with 10 rats in each group. From the first day of enrollment, the rats in the moxibustion group received mild moxibustion at Zhongwan (CV 12), Guanyuan (CV 4) and bilateral Zusanli (ST 36) (the first group) and bilateral Pishu (BL 20) and Weishu (BL 21) (the second group), and the two groups of acupoints were alternated every other day. The rats in the infrared group received infrared radiation on the stomach area and the area on the back between the T 12 -T 13 spinous processes, the two areas were alternated every other day. Rats in the moxibustion group and the infrared group were treated for 20 min each time, once a day for 21 d. Rats in the blank group, the sham operation group, and the model group were simultaneously grasped and fixed, and no other treatment was performed. After 21 d of intervention, the rats in each group were fasted for 12 h, and blood was collected from the orbits. The numbers of CD3 + , CD3 + CD4 + , CD3 + CD8 + T lymphocytes in peripheral blood were determined by flow cytometry, and the ratio of CD3 + CD4 + /CD3 + CD8 + was calculated. The rats were sacrificed and the thymus was dissected under sterile conditions to calculate the thymus index. Results Compared with the blank group, the thymus index, peripheral blood CD3 + , CD3 + CD4 + , CD3 + CD8 + and CD3 + CD4 + /CD3 + CD8 + ratio in the sham operation group did not change significantly (all P >0.05). Compared with the blank group, the thymus index of the model group was increased ( P <0.05), the CD3 + and CD3 + CD8 + T lymphocytes were increased (both P <0.01), and the CD3 + CD4 + /CD3 + CD8 + ratio was decreased ( P <0.05). Compared with the model group, the thymus index of the moxibustion group was increased ( P <0.01), and CD3 + , CD3+CD 4+ and CD3 + CD8 + T lymphocytes and the ratio of CD3 + CD4 + /CD3 + CD8 + in peripheral blood were increased (all P <0.05). Compared with the infrared group, the thymus index of the moxibustion group was significantly increased ( P <0.05), the CD3 + and CD3 + CD4 + T lymphocytes in the peripheral blood were significantly increased (both P <0.01), and the CD3 + CD8 + was increased ( P <0.05). Conclusion Moxibustion can significantly increase the thymus index of gastric cancer-bearing rats and activate CD3 + CD4 + and CD3 + CD8 + T lymphocytes in peripheral blood.