Objective: Yang deficiency constitution may bring with different types of illnesses in many people. The present study was designed to observe the effect of ginger-separated snake moxibustion on yang deficiency symptom, and serum adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) and cortisol (CORT) contents in yang deficiency constitution subjects, so as to explore its mechanism underlying improvement of yang deficiency constitution.
Methods: Ninety subjects with yang deficiency type constitution were equally and randomly assigned to control A group (19 men and 26 women, 18－60 years in age) and moxibustion group (16 men and 29 women, 18－60 years in age) and 45 normal subjects with mild constitution (18 men and 27 women, 18－60 years in age) were assigned to control B group. An snake-like moxa-cone was placed at a moxa-holder covering the middle back of human body from Dazhui (GV 14) to Yaoshu (GV 2) after paving a layer (about 1 cm thick) of fresh ginger in the holder, and then ignited, followed by the next moxa-cone, 3 cones altogether every time for each participant. The treatment was conducted once a week, 12 times in total. The subjects' constitution was scored according to the "Classification and Evaluation of Constitution of Traditional Chinese Medicine" formulated by China Association of Chinese Medicine. The serum ACTH and CORT contents were measured by radioimmunoassay before and at the end of the treatment and 6 months after the treatment.
Results: The constitation scores of the moxibustion group and control A group were significantly higher than that of the control B group before treatment (P<0.01). At the end of the treatment, the constitution score was significantly decreased in the moxibustion group (P<0.01) rather than in the control A group relevant to its own pre-treatment (P>0.05). The serum CORT and ACTH contents were significantly decreased in both the moxibustion and control A groups in comparison to the control B group before treatment (P<0.01), and obviously increased at the end of treatment in the moxibustion group compared with its own pre-treatment (P<0.01). No significant differences were found among the three groups in the constitution score, and serum CORT and ACTH levels at the 6th month after the treatment compared with their own post-treatment (P>0.05)．.
Conclusion: The ginger-separated snake moxibustion treatment may improve the constitution of yang deficiency participants by increasing the levels of serum ACTH and CORT, which may be helpful in resisting diseases.
Keywords: Adrenocorticotropic hormone; Cortisol; Ginger-separated snake moxibustion; Yang deficiency constitution.