When the moxibustion temperature was 47 C, most PRs should be activated in spite of a possible continuous firing of a few of or part of WRs. For this reason, the effects of moxibustion 40 C and 47 C may be considered as results of excitation of WRs and PRs separately. It can be concluded that PR are the principal material basis for antipyretic action of acupoints. It is thus possible that mechanisms of the moxibustion therapy in regulating abnormal body temperature do not always abide by the normal physiological regularity, which is worthy of being noted. In the present study, that 40 C moxibustion has no apparent antipyretic effect suggests an involvement of different acupoint receptors in treatment of different diseases.
Fever is an important symptom of heat-syndrome in traditional Chinese medicine .
Since the ancient times, treatment of heat-syndrome with moxibustion has been being an endlessly debated question. Some other scholars hold that cold, heat, deficiency or excess syndromes all can be treated by using moxibustion approach. But studies on the antipyretic mechanisms of moxibustion are fewer. In the present paper, the antipyretic effect of moxibustion is confirmed and a close interrelation between the antipyretic effect and PRs has been proved in the rabbit, which provides an important experimental evidence for the viewpoint that heat-syndrome can be treated with moxibustion therapy. Thus, it can be asserted that along with the deepgoing study on antipyretic mechanisms of moxibustion, more evidence and richer contents will be provided for supporting the argument of reasonable treatment of heat syndrome with moxibustion.