Gastrointestinal dysfunction is manifested as digestive symptoms. Clinically, Zusanli (ST36) is crucial in the acupoint prescriptions of acupuncture no matter which type of the disease is differentiated in traditional Chinese medicine, but the underlying mechanism remains to be explored. Aiming to summarize the current status of the researches in terms of ameliorating gastrointestinal mucosal damage and regulating gastrointestinal motility disorders, we systematically reviewed the basic researches on the intervention with electroacupuncture (EA) at "ST36" in treatment of the diseases related to gastrointestinal dysfunction in the past 5 years, after searching the articles from Chinese and English databases. The results suggest that EA at ST36 may regulate the local gastrointestinal inflammation, oxidative stress and immune microenvironment to relieve gastrointestinal mucosal damage and adjust gastrointestinal motility disorders by means of modulating the central and peripheral nerve signaling as well as the function of mast cells and Cajal interstitial cells.
胃肠功能异常以消化道症状为主，无论何种类型，针灸临床中均选用足三里为重要腧穴处方，但其背后的科学机制仍有待探索。本文通过系统梳理近5年中、英文数据库中使用电针干预单穴“足三里”治疗胃肠功能异常相关疾病的基础研究，旨在从改善胃肠黏膜损伤和调节胃肠动力紊乱两个方面总结其研究现状。电针“足三里”可能以巨噬细胞为中心环节调节胃肠局部炎性反应、氧化应激和免疫微环境来改善胃肠黏膜损伤，并通过调节中枢和外周信号转导及肥大细胞和Cajal间质细胞功能来调节胃肠动力紊乱。.
Keywords: Gastrointestinal function; Molecular mechanism; Review; Zusanli (ST36).