Jia Chen 1, Feng-Xia Liang 1, Song Wu 1, Zi-Qin Chen 1, Bei Chen 1, Ting Zhou 1, Xiao-Lei Gu 1, Chong-Li Li 1, Yan-Ping Shi 1, Peng Yan 2, Ling-Ling Tian 2, Chi-Cheng Xu 2, Bo-Lin Chen 2, Song Chen 3

Affiliations

1College of Acupuncture and Orthopaedics, Hubei University of Chinese Medicine, Wuhan 430061, China.

2Jingzhou Second People's Hospital, Jingzhou 434000, Hubei Province.

3Salt in Jintan Salt Limited Liability Company in Post-doctoral Research Station, Changzhou 213000, Jiangsu Province; College of Humanities Postdoctoral Station, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, Fujian Province; College of Acupuncture and Orthopaedics, Hubei University of Chinese Medicine, Wuhan 430061, China; Jingzhou Second People's Hospital, Jingzhou 434000, Hubei Province.

PMID: 36734504  DOI: 10.13702/j.1000-0607.20211215

Abstract 

Objective: To observe the clinical efficacy of shuanggu yitong acupuncture therapy (the therapy for both replenishment and unblocking) combined with domperidone on diabetic gastroparesis (DGP) of liver stagnation and spleen deficiency pattern and explore its effect mechanism.

Methods: DGP patients differentiated as liver stagnation and spleen deficiency pattern were divided into a control group (n=42) and an observation group (n=42) according to the random number table. The patients in the control group took domperidone tablets orally, 10 mg each time, 3 times a day for 28 days. In the observation group, on the base of the treatment as the control group, shuanggu yitong acupuncture therapy was applied to Baihui (GV20), Shenting (GV24), Zhongwan (CV12), bilateral Zusanli (ST36), Hegu (LI4)and Taichong (LR3), stimulated for 30 min in each treatment. Acupuncture was given once daily, 3 times a weeks for 28 days consecutively. Fasting blood glucose (FBG), 2-hour postprandial blood glucose (2 h PBG) and glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) were detected before and after treatment in the patients of two groups separately. The score of symptom severity index of gastroparesis (GCSI), traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) syndrome score and gastric emptying rate were assessed in the patients of two groups. Using ELISA, radioimmunoassay and colorimentry methods, the contents of motilin in plasma, gastrin, tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin-6 (IL-6), interleukin-1β (IL-1β) and interferon-gamma (INF-γ) in serum, as well as the activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD), reactive oxygen species (ROS) and malondialdehyde (MDA) in the serum were determined in the two groups. The clinical curative effect was evaluated.

Results: After treatment, the levels of FBG, 2 h PBG and HbA1c, the scores of GCSI and TCM syndrome, the contents of motilin in plasma, gastrin, TNF-α and MDA, as well as the activity of ROS in serum were all reduced when compared with those before treatment in each group (P<0.05, P<0.01), while gastric emptying rate and SOD activity in the serum were higher than those before treatment (P<0.05, P<0.01). After treatment, the serological content of INF-γ was lower than that before treatment in the control group (P<0.05), and the contents of IL-6 and IL-1β were reduced than those before treatment in the observation group (P<0.05). Compared with the control group, the levels of FBG, 2 h PBG and HbA1c, the scores of GCSI and TCM symptoms, the contents of motilin in plasma, gastrin, TNF-α, MDA, IL-6 and IL-1β, and the activity of ROS in serum in the observation group were all lower significantly (P<0.05, P<0.01), while the SOD activity and gastric emptying rate in the observation group were higher than those in the control group (P<0.05, P<0.01). The total effective rate was 90.5% (38/42) in the observation group, better than the control group (73.8%, 31/42, P<0.05).

Conclusion: Shuanggu yitong acupuncture therapy combined with domperidone remarkably relieves the clinical symptoms and improves the gastric emptying rate, effectively reduces motilin and gastrin and regulates oxidative stress and inflammatory responses in the patients with DGP of liver stagnation and spleen deficiency.

Keywords: Diabetic gastroparesis; Domperidone; Inflammatiory responses; Liver stagnation and spleen deficiency; Oxidative stress; Shuanggu yitong acupuncture.