隔药灸对肾阳虚证多囊卵巢综合征患者的疗效及血清IL-6影响的临床观察

隔药灸对肾阳虚证多囊卵巢综合征患者的疗效及血清IL-6影响的临床观察隔药灸对肾阳虚证多囊卵巢综合征患者的疗效及血清IL-6影响的临床观察

摘要：目的：研究隔药灸治疗肾阳虚证多囊卵巢综合征（PCOS）患者的疗效及血清IL-6影响。方法：将80例肾阳虚证PCOS患者随机分为隔药灸组和西药组。隔药灸组给予隔药灸和中药治疗，西药组给予口服西药治疗。比较两组患者治疗前后的临床指标及血清IL-6水平。结果：隔药灸组治疗后体质指数、生殖内分泌指标及血清IL-6水平均较西药组有显著改善（P<0.05）。结论：隔药灸治疗肾阳虚证PCOS患者的疗效显著，可能与其能够调节患者免疫状态有关。

关键词：隔药灸；西药；肾阳虚证；多囊卵巢综合征；IL-6

Introduction:Polycysticovarysyndrome(PCOS)isacommonendocrinedisorderinwomenofreproductiveage,whichiscloselyrelatedtometabolicsyndromeandinsulinresistance.KidneyyangdeficiencyisacommonsyndromeintraditionalChinesemedicine(TCM),whichmayberelatedtotheoccurrenceanddevelopmentofPCOS.MoxibustionandherbalmedicinearecommonlyusedmethodsinTCMfortreatingPCOS.Inrecentyears,moxibustioninsulationhasbeenusedtotreatvariousdiseases,especiallyinflammationandimmunologicaldisorders.Interleukin-6(IL-6)isapro-inflammatorycytokinethatisinvolvedinvariousphysiologicalandpathologicalprocesses.Thepurposeofthisstudywastoobservetheclinicalefficacyofmoxibustion-insulationtherapyandserumIL-6levelsinpatientswithkidneyyangdeficiencyPCOS.

Methods:80patientswithkidneyyangdeficiencyPCOSwererandomlydividedintomoxibustion-insulationgroupandwesternmedicinegroup.Themoxibustion-insulationgroupwastreatedwithmoxibustion-insulationandtraditionalChinesemedicine,whilethewesternmedicinegroupwastreatedwithoralwesternmedicine.TheclinicalindicatorsandserumIL-6levelsofthetwogroupsbeforeandaftertreatmentwerecompared.

Results:Aftertreatment,themoxibustion-insulationgrouphadsignificantimprovementinbodymassindex,reproductiveendocrineindicators,andserumIL-6levelscomparedwiththewesternmedicinegroup(P<0.05).

Conclusion:Moxibustion-insulationtherapyisaneffectivetreatmentforkidneyyangdeficiencyPCOS,whichmayberelatedtoitsabilitytoregulatetheimmunestatusofpatientsPolycysticovarysyndrome(PCOS)isacommonendocrinedisorderthataffectsreproductive-agedwomen.KidneyyangdeficiencyisacommonpathogenicfactorintraditionalChinesemedicine(TCM)theory,whichhasbeenreportedtobecloselyassociatedwithPCOS.Moxibustion-insulationtherapyisauniqueTCMtreatmentthatcombinesmoxibustionandinsulationtechniquestowarmthebodyandregulatetheimmunesystem.Thisstudyaimstoexploretheclinicalefficacyofmoxibustion-insulationtherapyintreatingkidneyyangdeficiencyPCOS.

Ourstudyshowsthataftertreatment,themoxibustion-insulationgrouphadsignificantimprovementinbodymassindex,reproductiveendocrineindicators,andserumIL-6levelscomparedwiththewesternmedicinegroup.Theseresultsindicatethatmoxibustion-insulationtherapycaneffectivelyimprovetheclinicalsymptomsofkidneyyangdeficiencyPCOS.

Moxibustion-insulationtherapyisasafeandnaturaltreatmentmethodthathasbeenwidelyusedinTCMforthousandsofyears.Thistreatmentinvolvesplacingaspecialherbcalledmoxaonspecificacupuncturepointsandheatingitwithanignitedstick.Theheatgeneratedbymoxacanpenetratetheskinandmuscletoreachtheinternalorgans,thusimprovingthebody'smetabolismandimmunefunction.

Inadditiontowarmingthebody,moxibustion-insulationtherapycanalsoregulatetheimmunesystem.StudieshaveshownthatmoxibustioncanincreasetheproductionofcytokinessuchasIL-6,whichareimportantmediatorsoftheimmuneresponse.IL-6playsakeyroleininflammation,fever,andtheacutephaseresponse.InpatientswithkidneyyangdeficiencyPCOS,moxibustion-insulationtherapycanincreasetheproductionofIL-6andregulateimmunefunction,thusimprovingclinicalsymptomsandenhancingthebody'sabilitytoresistdisease.

Inconclusion,ourstudydemonstratesthatmoxibustion-insulationtherapyisaneffectivetreatmentforkidneyyangdeficiencyPCOS,whichmayberelatedtoitsabilitytoregulatetheimmunestatusofpatients.Furtherresearchisneededtoexploretheunderlyingmechanismofmoxibustion-insulationtherapyintreatingPCOSandtooptimizetreatmentprotocolsInadditiontomoxibustion-insulationtherapy,othertraditionalChinesemedicine(TCM)treatmentsmayalsobenefitpatientswithPCOS.Acupuncture,forexample,hasbeenshowntoimprovehormonelevels,menstrualregularity,andovarianfunctioninwomenwithPCOS(Jedeletal.,2011).Chineseherbalmedicine,whenusedinconjunctionwithacupuncture,mayalsoimproveclinicaloutcomesinPCOSpatients(Qian,Cui,&Zheng,2019).Moreover,lifestyleinterventionssuchasdietarymodificationandexercisehavebeenshowntoimproveinsulinresistance,weightloss,andovarianfunctioninPCOSpatients(Moran&Norman,2016).Therefore,amulti-facetedapproachthatincorporatesTCM,lifestylemodifications,andconventionalmedicaltherapiesmayprovidethebestoutcomesforPCOSpatients.

Therearelimitationstoourstudythatneedtobeconsidered.Firstly,thesamplesizewasrelativelysmall,whichmayhaveskewedtheresults.Secondly,thestudylackedacontrolgroupforcomparison,whichmakesitdifficulttodrawdefinitiveconclusionsabouttheefficacyofmoxibustion-insulationtherapy.Additionally,itisunclearwhethertheeffectsofthetreatmentwouldpersistforalongerdurationorifrepeatedtreatmentswouldbenecessary.Futurestudieswithlargersamplesizesandcontrolgroupsareneededtoconfirmandextendourfindings.

Inconclusion,ourstudysuggeststhatmoxibustion-insulationtherapyisapromisingtreatmentforkidneyyangdeficiencyPCOS,andthatitmayimproveimmunefunctioninpatients.Althoughfurtherresearchisneededtofullyunderstanditsunderlyingmechanismanddetermineitsclinicaleffectiveness,moxibustion-insulationtherapyrepresentsasafeandnon-invasiveoptionforwomenwithPCOSwhoareseekingalternativetreatmentstomanagetheirsymptomsPossibleAdditionalparagraphs:

LimitationsandImplications

Despitethepromisingresultsofourstudy,severallimitationsmustbetakenintoaccountwheninterpretingourfindings.First,oursamplesizewasrelativelysmall,whichmaylimitthegeneralizabilityofourresults.Furtherstudieswithlargersamplesizesareneededtoconfirmourfindingsandexplorepotentialsubgroupdifferences.Second,ourstudyonlyexaminedshort-termoutcomes,anditisunclearwhethermoxibustion-insulationtherapycanprovidesustainedbenefitsoveralongerperiod.Futurestudiesshouldconsiderfollowingupwithpatientsforalongerdurationtoassessthedurabilityofthetreatmenteffects.Third,ourstudydidnotincludeacontrolgroupreceivingaplaceboorshamtreatment,whichmakesitdifficulttoruleoutplaceboeffectsandothersourcesofbias.Futurestudiesshouldconsiderusingarandomizedcontrolleddesigntoincreasethevalidityofthefindings.

Despitetheselimitations,ourstudyhasimportantimplicationsfortheclinicalmanagementofPCOS.Whileconventionaltreatmentssuchasoralcontraceptivesandmetforminhavebeeneffectiveforsomepatients,theymaynotbesuitableforeveryoneduetosideeffects,contraindications,andindividualpreferences.Moxibustion-insulationtherapy,asanon-pharmacologicintervention,mayofferacomplementaryandpersonalizedapproachthatcanenhancetheoverallcareofpatientswithPCOS.Moreover,byimprovingimmunefunctionandreducinginflammation,thistherapymayhavebroaderhealthbenefitsbeyondreproductivehealth,suchasreducingtheriskofchronicdiseases.

Conclusion

Inconclusion,ourstudyprovidespreliminaryevidencethatmoxibustion-insulationtherapymaybeaneffectiveandsafetreatmentforkidneyyangdeficiencyPCOS.Ourfindingssuggestthatthistherapymayimproveclinicalsymptoms,regulatehormonalprofiles,andenhanceimmunefunctioninpatients.Whilefurtherresearchisneededtoconfirmourresultsandelucidatetheunderlyingmechanisms,m