Objective

2

To explore the effect of Mahuang （

Herba Ephedrae

） powder stick at Feishu （BL13） on the blood perfusion of body surface acupoints corresponding to the anatomical site of back and trachea-bronchus.

Methods

2

Ten healthy subjects were included， involving 5 males and 5 females. A single group of self-control was used to apply Mahuang powder to bilateral Feishu （BL13） for 180 minutes. The blood perfusion imaging changes of bilateral Feishu （BL13）， bilateral Pohu （BL42）， Shenzhu （GV12）， Lianquan （CV23）， Tiantu （CV22）， Danzhong （CV17 ）， bilateral Shenfeng （KI23） and bilateral Yingchuang （ST16） were monitored by visual laser speckle blood flow imaging before and 180 minutes after herbal patching， and all those except for Feishu （BL13） were measured 60 and 120 minutes after patching as well. The changes of blood perfusion at the same acupoint with the time of herbal patching， and the differences of blood perfusion between different acupoints at the same time were analyzed.

Results

2

There were no statistically significant changes in body temperature， heart rate， blood pressure， and oxygen saturation at the tip of the index finger in healthy subjects before and after herbal patching （

P

＞0.05）. Laser speckle blood flow imaging showed that the blood perfusion of the surface acupoints corresponding to the tracheal-bronchial anatomical site was larger than that of the dorsal acupoints before and after herbal patching. After 180 minutes， the laser speckle blood perfusion images of back and neck acupoints did not change significantly， while the blood perfusion of chest acupoints was reduced compared with that before herbal patching. Except for the blood perfusion of the right Feishu （BL13） increasing by 84.4 PU after 180 minutes （

P

＜0.05）， there was no significant difference in blood perfusion of other acupoints （

P

＞0.05）. Before herbal patching， blood perfusion of Danzhong （CV17）， right Shenfeng （KI23）， right Yingchuang （ST16） was significantly lower that of Tiantu （CV22）（

P

＜0.05 or

P

＜0.01）； after 180 minutes， the blood perfusion of Danzhong （CV17）， right Shenfeng （KI23）， right Yingchuang （ST16）， left Shenfeng （KI23）， left Yingchuang （ST16） was lower than that of Tiantu （CV22） （

P

＜0.05 or

P

＜0.01）. The analysis of acupoint blood perfusion changes with patching time showed that the average blood perfusion volume of Tiantu （CV22） fluctuated between 800～900 PU， while that of Lianquan （CV23）， left Shenfeng （KI23）， left Yingchuang （ST16） fluctuated between 500～600 PU， with no significant difference （

P

＞0.05）.

Conclusion

2

Herbal patching of Mahuang powder at Feishu （BL13） had no significant effect on the blood perfusion of the local patching site and the body surface acupoints corresponding to the tracheal-bronchial anatomical site.