[Electroacupuncture warming therapy combined with western medicine for treatment of myasthenia gravis and effect on IL-4 level in the patients]

OBJECTIVE: To observe the therapeutic effect of electroacupuncture (EA) warming therapy on myasthenia gravis (MG) and effect on IL-4 in the patient. METHODS: Sixty patients with MG were randomly divided into two groups, 30 patients in each group. The observation group were treated with EA warming therapy with Tanzhong (CV 17), Shimen (CV 5), Guanyuan (CV 4), Zhongwan (CV 12), Yanglingquan (GB 34) selected as main points, and oral administration of Pyridostigmine (90 - 240 mg each day) and Prednisone (30 - 60 mg each day). The control group were treated with oral administration of Pyridostigmine (240-480 mg each day) and Prednisone (60-100 mg each day). Clinical therapeutic effects and serum Interleukin-4 (IL-4) levels before and after treatment were observed. RESULTS: The total effective rate was 93.3% in the observation group, which was better than 70.0% in the control group (P < 0.01); after treatment, the serum IL-4 levels in the two groups significantly decreased (P < 0.01), the decrease of IL-4 in the observation group being significantly better than the control group (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: EA warming therapy combined with western medicine has a significant therapeutic effect on myasthenia gravis. One of the mechanisms possibly is to restrain specific immune reaction by regulating the level of IL-4.
PMID: 18271233