Objective: To observe the influence of herbal cake-separated moxibustion on the contents of 5-hydroxy tryptamine (5-HT), dopamine (DA) and norepinephrine (NE) in the hypothalamus in rats with functional dyspepsia (FD) of syndrome of liver stagnation and spleen deficiency, so as to explore its mechanism underlying improvement of FD.
Methods: Sixty SD rats were randomly divided into 6 groups: control, model, herbal cake-separated moxibustion, moxa-cone moxibustion, Xiaoyaosan (decoction for relieving liver stagnation) and Domperidon, with 10 rats in each group. The FD model was established by applying chronic restraint stress + excessive fatigue + irregular food + tail clipping+ shaking for 21 consecutive days.