コラーゲン関節炎マウスにおける灸の効果:CD25+ CD4+ 制御性T細胞の役割
詳細
It is known that the moxibustion applied to the acu-point of the skin has desirable effects on the self-defense mechanisms. There are many reports that the decrease of the number and/or the dysfunction of natural regulatory T cell (CD25+ CD4+ T cells) induces autoimmune disease such as rheumatoid arthritis. We used collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) mice to examine the effect of moxibustion for autoimmune disease such as rheumatoid arthritis. The method of collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) in mice was as follows. DBA/1J mice were immunized intradermally with type II bovine collagen twice with the 3 weeks interval. CIA mice were divided into three groups. Control group : no treatment, Moxibustion group : Moxibustion treatment with 1mg moxa cone was applied 5 times a day to the MEIMON (GV4) acupoint, 3 times per week for 3 weeks. Prednisolone group : 10mg of prednisolone was administered orally, 3 times per week for 3 weeks. At the initial stage (day28), the number of the white blood cell counts, CD25+ CD4+ T cells and the ratio of the CD25+ T cells in CD4+ T cells were significantly increased in the moxibustion group. On the other hand, in the prednisolone group, the ratio of the CD25+ T cells in CD4+ T cells was significantly increased but the other two indications were not changed. There results suggested that the increase of regulatory T cell induced by moxibustion and prednisolone at the early stage of CIA lowered arthritis severty. [J Physiol Sci. 2006;56 Suppl:S238]
