A study on the differences of effect on mast cells and serum 5-HT in the acupoint area of 'CV 4' of rats by acupuncture stimulus and thermal stimulus

Objective To observe the influence of acupuncture stimulus and thermal stimulus on the expression of mast cells (MCs) and 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) in local acupoint area of Guānyuan (关元 CV 4) and serum 5-HT in rats. Methods Thirty-nine male C57BL/6 rats were randomly divided into blank control group, acupuncture stimulus group and thermal stimulus group, with 13 rats in each group. The rats were stimulated by manual acupuncture at CV 4 for 5 min in acupuncture stimulus group, while those in thermal stimulus group were stimulated by adopting a thermal moxibustion apparatus on CV 4 for 30 min. The expression of MC and 5-HT in the skin in the acupoint area of CV 4 before and after acupuncture stimulus and thermal stimulus was observed and analyzed via adopting toluidine blue staining method and immunofluorescence histochemical method (5 rats were selected from each group), and the 5-HT content in serum before and after stimulus was determined through enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) (8 rats were selected from each group). The influence of acupuncture stimulus and thermal stimulus on the contents of MC and 5-HT in the skin and serum 5-HT in rats was analyzed and compared. Results ① After acupuncture stimulus or thermal stimulus on CV 4 of C57BL/6 rats, the number of MC in the acupoint area significantly increased when compared with that in blank group (the acupuncture stimulus group 12.40 ± 2.07 vs. the blank group 3.00 ± 5.96; thermal stimulus group 26.20 ± 10.85 vs. the blank group 12.40 ± 2.07, both P Conclusion Both acupuncture stimulus and thermal stimulus can cause the aggregation and degranulation of MCs and high expression of 5-HT in the acupoint area. The effect of thermal stimulus was superior to that of acupuncture stimulus in degranulation.