Efficacy and effect on related brain-gut peptides of acupoint sticking therapy for functional dyspepsia / 针灸推拿医学（英文版）

ABSTRACT

Objective: To observe the efficacy of acupoint sticking with Jianpi Tongjing Zhitong ointment in the treatment of functional dyspepsia due to liver-qi stagnation and spleen deficiency and its effect on serum 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) and ghrelin contents. Methods: One hundred patients with functional dyspepsia due to liver-qi stagnation and spleen deficiency were divided into a treatment group and a control group by the random number table method, with 50 cases in each group. The treatment group received acupoint sticking with Jianpi Tongjing Zhitong ointment and the control group was treated with mosapride citrate orally. Patients were treated for 4 weeks as a course. The therapeutic efficacy was compared after one-course treatment and the differences in gastric emptying rate, and serum 5-HT and ghrelin contents between groups were compared before and after treatment. Results: The total effective rate was 79.6％ in the control group and 89.4％ in the treatment group, showing significantly different between groups (P<0.05). After treatment, the gastric emptying rate and serum ghrelin content of the two groups increased significantly, and the serum 5-HT content decreased significantly, the intra-group differences were significant (all P<0.01). After treatment, the gastric emptying rate and serum ghrelin content were significantly higher in the treatment group than those in the control group, while the serum 5-HT was significant lower in the treatment group, the inter-group differences were significant (all P<0.05). A negative correlation (r=-0.59) was observed between serum 5-HT content and gastric emptying rate, and a positive correlation (r=0.64) was observed between serum ghrelin content and gastric emptying rate, showing statistical significance (all P<0.01). Conclusion: Acupoint sticking with Jianpi Tongjing Zhitong ointment has a remarkable clinical efficacy in treating patients with functional dyspepsia due to liver-qi stagnation and spleen deficiency and is able to influence the secretion of serum 5-HT and ghrelin. Improving the gastrointestinal motility through the regulation of related brain-gut peptides is suggested as an underlying mechanism for this therapy.