A review of neuroendocrine immune system abnormalities in IBS based on the brain-gut axis and research progress of acupuncture intervention

Zhangyin Sun; Xuejiao Wang; Shangsheng Feng; Chaoju Xie; Yu Xing; Liang Guo; Jingyu Zhao; Changchun Ji

doi:10.3389/fnins.2023.934341

A review of neuroendocrine immune system abnormalities in IBS based on the brain-gut axis and research progress of acupuncture intervention

Front Neurosci. 2023 Mar 9:17:934341. doi: 10.3389/fnins.2023.934341. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Zhangyin Sun^{1

2}, Xuejiao Wang^{1

2}, Shangsheng Feng³, Chaoju Xie^{1

2}, Yu Xing^{1

2}, Liang Guo^{1

2}, Jingyu Zhao⁴, Changchun Ji^{2

5}

Affiliations

¹ College of Acupuncture and Moxibustion, Shaanxi University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Xianyang, China.
² Department of Acupuncture and Moxibustion, Shaanxi Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Xi'an, China.
³ MOE Key Laboratory of Biomedical Information Engineering, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, China.
⁴ Department of Acupuncture and Moxibustion, Xi'an Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Xi'an, China.
⁵ Department of Acupuncture and Moxibustion, Shaanxi Provincial Institute of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Xi'an, China.

Abstract

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a common digestive disorder observed in clinics. Current studies suggest that the pathogenesis of the disease is closely related to abnormal brain-gut interactions, hypokinesia, visceral sensory hypersensitivity in the gastrointestinal tract, and alterations in the intestinal microenvironment. However, it is difficult for a single factor to explain the heterogeneity of symptoms. The Rome IV criteria emphasized the holistic biologic-psycho-social model of IBS, suggesting that symptoms of the disease are closely related to neurogastroenterology and various abnormalities in brain-gut interaction. This study comprehensively reviewed the relationship between the brain-gut axis and IBS, the structure of the brain-gut axis, and the relationship between the brain-gut axis and intestinal microenvironment, and discussed the relationship between the abnormal regulation of the nervous system, endocrine system, and immune system and the incidence of IBS on the basis of brain-gut axis. In terms of treatment, acupuncture therapy can regulate the neuroendocrine-immune system of the body and improve the intestinal microenvironment, and it has the advantages of safety, economy, and effectiveness. We study the pathogenesis of IBS from local to global and micro to macro, and review the use of acupuncture to treat the disease as a whole so as to provide new ideas for the treatment of the disease.

Keywords: acupuncture; brain-gut axis; endocrine system; immune system; irritable bowel syndrome; neural signal regulation.

Publication types

Review

Grants and funding

This study was supported by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (82074560), the Shaanxi Province Natural Science Basic Research Program Project (2020JM-697), the Shaanxi Province Innovation Capacity Support Program (2020KJXX-075), and the Shaanxi Provincial Traditional Chinese Medicine Administration Scientific Research Project (JCMS064).