Abstract: ObjectiveTo observe the effect of dressing and moxibustion-pretreatment on the local joint swelling and stress hormone in hypothalami of rats with adjuvant arthritis (AA) at early and secondary stages.MethodsForty Wistar rats were randomly divided into 5 groups: normal group, early and secondary model groups, early and secondary pre-dressing and moxibustion (PDM) groups. The dressing with Chinese herb and moxibustion was stuck on Dazhui point (GV14) before the AA model established. The effects of dressing and moxibustion-pretreatment on the feet swelling and corticotropin-releasing-hormone (CRH), beta-endorphin (β-EP) and neuropeptide-Y (NPY) in hypothalami were observed.ResultsThe right feet swelling rate at early and secondary stages obviously increased after modeling ( P<0.01), and it became lower in early and secondary PDM groups than in model groups at the same phases ( P<0.05～0.01). The level of hypothalamic CRH was higher after modeling ( P<0.05～0.01), compared with early model group, it had a tendency to going down in early PDM group, moreover, in secondary PDM group the level was similar with the normal group. The level of hypothalamic β-EP increased significantly in early model group ( P<0.01), and lightly changed in secondary model group, it decreased in early PDM group but increased in secondary PDM group, compared with model groups at the same stages ( P<0.05). The level of hypothalamic NPY increased significantly after modeling, and it declined in the secondary PDM group ( P<0.05).ConclusionDressing and moxibustion-pretreatment can relief feet swelling of AA rats, which may be related with its regulative effect on the level of hypothalamic CRH, β-EP and NPY.

Key words: dressing and moxibustion-pretreatment, adjuvant arthritis, stress, corticotropin-releasing-hormone, beta-endorphin, neuropeptide-Y