Gut Microbiota: A New Strategy to Study the Mechanism of Electroacupuncture and Moxibustion in Treating Ulcerative Colitis

Previous studies have confirmed that acupuncture and moxibustion is an effective way for treating ulcerative colitis (UC). However, the exact mechanism is unclear yet. In this study, DSS-induced UC mice were treated by electroacupuncture and moxibustion, and the genome of intestinal flora was subsequently detected by high-throughput sequencing in order to explore the detailed mechanism in terms of intestinal flora. The results indicated that the alpha diversity indices and beta diversity of intestinal flora were improved by electroacupuncture and moxibustion treatments, especially by the moxibustion treatment. These treatments inhibited Streptococcus, Odoribacter, and Allobaculum whereas it facilitated Lactobacillus on genus level. Further correlation analysis showed that the alpha diversity indices were positively correlated with the percentage of Treg cells in CD4(+) cells but negatively correlated with the percentage of Th17 in CD4(+) cells. These data indicated that both electroacupuncture and moxibustion can promote the intestinal flora diversity, providing a new view to understand the relationship between host and microbiome when using some external therapies.