Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2014 May 28;20(20):6044-54.
doi: 10.3748/wjg.v20.i20.6044.

Acupuncture-moxibustion in treating irritable bowel syndrome: how does it work?

Xiao-Peng Ma  1 , Jue Hong  1 , Cai-Ping An  1 , Dan Zhang  1 , Yan Huang  1 , Huan-Gan Wu  1 , Cui-Hong Zhang  1 , Sian Meeuwsen  1
Affiliations
Review

Acupuncture-moxibustion in treating irritable bowel syndrome: how does it work?

Xiao-Peng Ma et al. World J Gastroenterol. .

Abstract

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a functional intestinal disease characterized by abdominal pain or discomfort and altered bowel habits. It has drawn great attention because of its high prevalence, reoccurring symptoms, and severe influence on patients' lives. Many clinical studies have demonstrated the efficacy of acupuncture-moxibustion in treating IBS. Increasing attention has been paid to research regarding the action mechanisms of acupuncture-moxibustion for IBS, and the adoption of modern techniques has achieved some progress. This article reviews the latest advances among action mechanism studies from the perspectives of gastrointestinal motility, visceral hypersensitivity, the brain-gut axis, the neuroendocrine system, and the immune system. It is shown that acupuncture-moxibustion can effectively regulate the above items, and thus, this treatment should have a high efficacy in the treatment of IBS. This article also identifies existing problems in current mechanism research and raises several ideas for future studies. Further revelations regarding these action mechanisms will promote the application of acupuncture-moxibustion in treating IBS.

Keywords: Acupuncture-moxibustion; Brain-gut axis; Gastrointestinal motility; Irritable bowel syndrome; Mechanism study; Visceral hypersensitivity.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Acupoints of human. A: Acupoint Zusanli (ST 36); B: Acupoint Neiguan (PC 6); C: Acupoint Tianshu (ST 25).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Acupoints of rat. A: Acupoint Zusanli (ST 36) and Shangjuxu (ST 37); B: Acupoint Taichong (LR 3) and Hegu (LI 4).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Multiple regulating channels of acupuncture-moxibustion in treating irritable bowel syndrome. IBS: Irritable bowel syndrome; AQP: Aquaporins.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Philpott H, Gibson P, Thien F. Irritable bowel syndrome - An inflammatory disease involving mast cells. Asia Pac Allergy. 2011;1:36–42. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Almansa C, Díaz-Rubio M, Rey E. The burden and management of patients with IBS: Results from a survey in spanish gastroenterologists. Rev Esp Enferm Dig. 2011;103:570–575. - PubMed
    1. Faresjö Å, Grodzinsky E, Hallert C, Timpka T. Patients with irritable bowel syndrome are more burdened by co-morbidity and worry about serious diseases than healthy controls--eight years follow-up of IBS patients in primary care. BMC Public Health. 2013;13:832. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Chang L, Lacy BE, Spiegel BM. An Evidence-based Approach to Therapy in IBS-D: A Case Study Compendium. Gastroenterol Hepatol (N Y) 2010;6:1–12. - PMC - PubMed
    1. He WR, Zhang FC, Liang LX. The epidemiology of irritable bowel syndrome. Weichangbingxue He Ganbingxue Zazhi. 2012;21:83–85.

Publication types