The effect of warming of the abdomen and of herbal medicine on superior mesenteric artery blood flow - a pilot study.
BACKGROUND
In traditional Japanese and Chinese medicine, warming the abdomen with moxibustion or herbal medicines has been used for various diseases. However, the effects of these therapies on hemodynamics have not been clear. We clarify the physiological effects of these therapies on the superior mesenteric artery (SMA) blood flow.


METHODS
28 healthy male volunteers were randomly assigned to groups A and B. Group A (n = 14) underwent local thermal stimulation of the paraumbilical region for 20 min at a temperature of 40 °C; this simulated the heat and mechanical pressure effects of moxibustion. Group B (n = 14) took the herbal medicine Daikenchuto (TJ-100; 5.0 g) with distilled water. As a control, group C (n = 14) took distilled water alone. Blood flow volume in the SMA was measured by ultrasound from rest to 50 min after the start of each intervention.


RESULTS
The SMA blood flow volume increased significantly between 10 to 40 min after the start of thermal stimulation (p < 0.05), and it also increased significantly between 10 to 50 min after administration of TJ-100 (p < 0.01) as compared to the resting volume. However, SMA blood flow volume did not change significantly after administration of water alone. There was no significant difference in SMA blood flow changes between groups A and B.


CONCLUSIONS
The results suggest that one of the physiological effects of warming the abdomen according to a traditional concept in thermal stimulation and herbal medicine is an increase of SMA blood flow volume.
Takayama
Shin
S
Center for Asian Traditional Medicine, Graduate School of Medicine, Sendai, Japan. t-seki@m.tains.tohoku.ac.jp
Seki
Takashi
T
Watanabe
Masashi
M
Takashima
Shigeru
S
Sugita
Norihiro
N
Konno
Satoshi
S
Iwasaki
Koh
K
Yambe
Tomoyuki
T
Yoshizawa
Makoto
M
Nitta
Shin-Ichi
S
Maruyama
Shigenao
S
Yaegashi
Nobuo
N
D000005:Abdomen / Q000502:physiology*; D000328:Adult; D001783:Blood Flow Velocity / Q000187:drug effects*; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000187:drug effects; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000187:drug effects; D006358:Hot Temperature; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D017538:Mesenteric Artery, Superior / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D008517:Phytotherapy / Q000379:methods*; D010865:Pilot Projects; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000494:pharmacology*; D012016:Reference Values; D014463:Ultrasonography
D010936:Plant Extracts