title: A comparative study of the effects of electroacupuncture and moxibustion in the gastrointestinal motility of the rat.
abstract: We compared the outcomes of the stimulation of specific sets of acupoints with either acupuncture or moxibustion over peristalsis. Twenty-five plastic beads were orally administered in the stomach of the rats and 90 min later animals were sacrificed, the stomach and small intestine were opened, and the number of beads remaining in each segment was counted. Forty rats were immobilized for 20 min and stimulated at either abdominal or hindlimbs acupoints, with either electroacupuncture or moxibustion. Under this restraint (stress) condition electroacupuncture at hindlimb points or moxibustion at abdominal points significantly enhanced gastric emptying (P < 0.02) as well as intestinal motility compared with animals subjected only to immobilization and not stimulated with electroacupuncture or moxibustion. We conclude that the effects of different acupoints and modes of stimulation (electrical vs. moxibustion) over gastrointestinal motility in rats subjected to restraint-induced stress is not uniform and discuss the different neural pathways underlying these differences.
authors.affiliation: Division of Chinese Medicine and Acupuncture, Department of Orthopedics and Traumatology, Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP), Rua Vergueiro, 2045, cj. 1003, Vila Mariana, 04101-000 São Paulo/SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Angela
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tabosa
authors.forename: Ysao
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yamamura
authors.forename: Eduardo Romão
authors.initials: ER
authors.lastname: Forno
authors.forename: Luiz Eugênio A M
authors.initials: LE
authors.lastname: Mello
mesh_terms: D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000818:Animals; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D015671:Electroacupuncture / Q000379:methods*; D005746:Gastric Emptying / Q000502:physiology*; D005769:Gastrointestinal Motility / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D009071:Moxibustion; D010528:Peristalsis / Q000502:physiology*; D011336:Probability; D011897:Random Allocation; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D012016:Reference Values; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity