Understanding how herb-partitioned moxibustion works for treating IBS

In this study, researchers from China and Malaysia systematically assessed the metabolic alterations in response to diarrhea-predominant irritable bowel syndrome (IBS-D) and the therapeutic effect of herb-partitioned moxibustion (HPM). Their results were published in the journal Chinese Medicine.

• IBS is a common functional gastrointestinal disorder. It is commonly treated using anti-diarrheal, anti-spasmodic, and serotonergic or laxative agents.
• While these drugs relieve IBS symptoms, they also cause undesirable side effects.
• Previous studies have shown that HPM is effective in ameliorating symptoms of IBS. However, the mechanism underlying its positive effects is still unknown.
• To address this, the researchers used a metabolomics approach based on proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-NMR) and investigated the fecal and serum metabolome of a rat model of IBS-D with and without HPM treatment.
•  They found that IBS-induced metabolic alterations include higher levels of threonine and uridine diphosphate (UDP)-glucose, and lower levels of aspartate, ornithine, leucine, isoleucine, proline, 2-hydroxy butyrate, valine, lactate, ethanol, arginine, 2-oxoisovalerate and bile acids.
• These altered metabolites may be involved in the impairment of gut secretory immune system, intestinal inflammation, nutrient malabsorption, and disordered metabolism of bile acids.
• HPM treatment normalized the Bristol stool forms scale scores, fecal water content, plasma endotoxin levels, and other IBS-induced metabolic changes in the IBS-D rat model.

Based on these findings, the researchers concluded that HPM can be used to treat IBS-D as it can re-normalize IBS-induced metabolic changes.

Read the full article at this link.

Journal Reference:

Lin X, Liu X, Xu J, Cheng K-K, Cao J, Liu T, Liu Q, Zhong H, Shen G, Dong J, et al. METABOLOMICS ANALYSIS OF HERB-PARTITIONED MOXIBUSTION TREATMENT ON RATS WITH DIARRHEA-PREDOMINANT IRRITABLE BOWEL SYNDROME. Chinese Medicine. 08 May 2019;14(1). DOI: 10.1186/s13020-019-0240-2