Effect Of Electroacupuncturing Quchi Acupoint On Functional Diarrhea Patients Resting-state FMRI Function Connectivity

Objective:Functional diarrhea patients as the research object, Resting state fMRI (Resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging) as the research method, through comparing the differences of brain activation and the changes of function connection by electro-acupuncture at Hexue Point and Quchi Point in Hand Yang Brightness Large Intestine Meridian and electro-acupuncture at non-meridians and non-points in the same segment (midpoint of Quchi Point in Hand Yang Brightness Large Intestine Meridian and Tianjing Point in Hand Lesser Yang Triple Burner Meridian), this paper preliminary explores the projecting correspondence between electro-acupuncture at Hexue Point and Quchi Point in large intestine meridian and brain, and provides the imaging basis for the central mechanism of needling Quchi Point to treat functional diarrhea.Method:Select standard18cases of functional diarrhea patients, adopt the way of self-cross matching, including tests of electro-acupuncture at Quchi Point on the right side for the first time (observation group) and a second electro-acupuncture at non-meridians and non-points group on the same side every other day (control group). Bilateral anterior cingulate gyrus as seed point, respectively r-fMRI scanning on resting state before acupuncture, and electro-acupuncture state of two groups, using function connection as observation index, using software, such as MATLAB, DPARSF and REST, to do image processing and statistic analysis, to respectively get brain images of function connection between above two groups and anterior cingulate gyrus, then analyze the differences of brain function connection between the two groups before and after the electro-acupuncture, and the differences of brain function connection before and after electro-acupuncture within a group itself.Result:1. Brain functional diarrhea resting state is activated mainly has:bilateral anterior cingulate cortex, right insula, right postcentral gyrus (REST One sample T-test, P<0.05); negative brain activation:the right parietal lobe inferior parietal lobule, right superior frontal gyrus, right middle frontal gyrus, bilateral middle temporal gyrus, bilateral ligule back pillow, left precentral gyrus (REST One sample T-test, P<0.05). 2. Compared with resting state, some brain areas are particularly active after electro-acupuncture at Quchi Point, such as the right cuneate convolution, the right middle occipital gyrus, the right parietal lobule (REST Paired T-test, P<0.05), and some areas are obviously resistant, such as the left of limbic lobe cingulate gyrus, the right middle frontal gyrus and the right inferior parietal lobule (REST Paired T-test, P<0.05). New activated brain areas include crescentic lobe beneath the left cerebellum, crescentic lobe beneath the right cerebellum, the centrum of left posterior cerbellar lobe, the cuneate convolution of the left occipital lobe, the praecuneus of the right parietal lobe, the superior temporal gyrus of the left temporal lobe, and the left inferior frontal gyrus.3. Compared with resting state, some brain areas are particularly active after electro-acupuncture at non-meridians and non-points group:the right cingulate gyrus, the lingual gyrus of bilateral occipital lobe, the left middle occipital gyrus, and the right post-central gyrus (REST Paired T-test, P<0.05); obviously resistant brain areas include:the left superior temporal gyrus, the right middle frontal gyrus (REST Paired T-test, P<0.05). New activated brain areas include the left praecuneus, and the gyrus fusiformis of the right occipital lobe.4. Compared with non-meridians and non-points group, activated brain areas after electro-acupuncture at Quchi Point (resting state) are similar. In the non-point group, the added brain areas are only the right parahippocampal gyrus, the praecuneus of the right parietal lobe (REST Two-sample T-test, P <0.05)5. Compared with non-meridians and non-points group, obviously activated brain areas after electro-acupuncture at Quchi Point (needling state) are the parietal of posterior cerbellar lobe and the left of limbic lobe cingulate gyrus (REST Two-sample T-test, P<0.05)Conclusion:1. This research takes functional diarrhea patients as object, in the resting state some areas are activated, such as the bilateral anterior cingulate gyrus, the bilateral middle temporal gyrus, the lingual gyrus of bilateral occipital lobe, the right insular lobe, the left pre-central gyrus, the right post-central gyrus, and the right inferior parietal lobule (p<0.05). Compared with default network of normal people, the default network under the pathologic state has a certain differences. These differences reflect in the insular lobe, parts of the temporal lobe and part of the occipital lobe, which may be due to the functional diarrhea patients with visceral hypersensitivity, anxiety and depression. The results should be further validated.2.The electro-acupuncture at Quchi Point and non-points reduces activation of sensory areas involved with viscera, such as the cingulate gyrus and the insular lobe, and weakens the visceral hypersensitivity, which can effectively improve the functional diarrhea patients’visceral hypersensitivity. It is speculated that this is may be an inner neurobiological mechanism that electro-acupuncture at both Quchi Point and non-point can effectively alleviate functional diarrhea, abdominal pain, abdominal discomfort and other symptoms, although the volume of cingulate gyrus decreases after the stimulation at non-points, after a paired T test with resting state connects with activating function of cingulate cortex.3. Electroacupuncture Quchi point after the new activation in the left cerebellar inferior semilunar lobe, right inferior cerebellar semilunar leaf, left cerebellum posterior lobe of cerebellum of vertebral body, the traditional sense of the subcortical center for motor control (especially visceral activity) also play an important role in the regulation of non physical activity.4. After electro-acupuncture at Quchi point, new activation in crescentic lobe beneath the left cerebellum, crescentic lobe beneath the right cerebellum, and the centrum of left posterior cerbellar lobe reveals that epencephal, the sub-cortical motion regulation center in the traditional sense, also plays an important role in non-somatic activities (mainly visceral activities).5. Two groups of electroacupuncture stimulation state with the two-sample T test, brain regions Quchi groups than in the non-point group have significant difference for the left posterior lobe of cerebellum, left posterior cingulate gyrus. Initial speculation of acupoints and differences of non acupoint to treat functional diarrhea and limbic system, cerebellum.