Morphological study on colonic pathology in ulcerative colitis treated by moxibustion

Area of Science:

• Gastroenterology
• Integrative Medicine
• Traditional Chinese Medicine

Background:

• Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a chronic inflammatory bowel disease with significant impact on quality of life.
• Current treatments for UC have limitations and side effects.
• Moxibustion, a component of Traditional Chinese Medicine, is explored for its therapeutic potential.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the therapeutic effectiveness of moxibustion combined with herbal medicine for ulcerative colitis.
• To assess the impact of this moxibustion therapy on colonic mucosal morphology.

Main Methods:

• A randomized controlled trial involving 46 patients with ulcerative colitis.
• Comparison between a moxibustion with herbal medicine group (30 patients) and a Salicylaye fapyridine (SASP) control group (16 patients).
• Colonoscopic and histopathologic analysis (H.E and AB-PAS staining) of colonic mucosa in a subset of patients before and after treatment.

Main Results:

• The moxibustion group demonstrated a higher clinical cure rate (17/30) compared to the SASP group (5/16).
• Histopathologic analysis revealed significant amelioration of chronic mucosal inflammation (P<0.01), decreased inflammatory cell infiltration (P<0.001), and increased goblet cells (P<0.001).
• Colonic mucosal lesions, including ulceration, were notably improved, with mucin characteristics returning towards normal.

Conclusions:

• Moxibustion with herbal medicine underneath offers a superior cure rate for ulcerative colitis than SASP.
• This therapeutic approach effectively improves colonic mucosal lesions and helps normalize mucoprotein levels.
• Moxibustion presents a promising alternative or complementary treatment for ulcerative colitis.