Moxibustion stimulation of the extremities: its effects ondeep body temperatures and autonomic nervous system during sleep in healthy subjects

Increased skin temperature of the extremities before falling asleep is known to promote heat dissipation, lowering the deep body temperature and thereby inducing sleep. In this study, we investigated how moxibustion stimulation of the extremities affects deep temperatures and the autonomic nervous system at sleep induction.The experiment included eight students and faculty members at Morinomiya University of Medical Sciences. All participants received both moxibustion stimulation and moxibustion plate placement alone (control) at least one week apart, on the same day of the week and time of day, which were randomly assigned. For moxibustion stimulation, two moxibustion plates were activated at the left and right Hegu (LI4) and Taichong (LR3) acupoints. The experiment consisted of resting in a sitting position for 5 minutes, intervention or control for 10 minutes, and resting in a supine position for 5 minutes. Subsequently, lights were turned off and the participants were asked to sleep for 30 minutes. The evaluation included tympanic temperature, electrocardiogram, and sleep electroencephalograph.In the control group, the tympanic temperature increased up to 10 minutes after lights-out and gradually decreased thereafter. In the moxibustion stimulation group, the tympanic temperature decreased 6 minutes after lights-out and was lower than the control group after 6-10 minutes and after 11-15 minutes. LF/HF, an index of sympathetic activity, decreased from the time of sitting position for both groups but without a significant difference between groups. HF(%), an index of parasympathetic activity, increased after moxibustion stimulation compared with the control group, and then decreased in both groups after lights-out.Moxibustion stimulation of the extremities could not affect the deep temperature during sleep and the autonomic nervous system. In addition, no effect was observed during sleep onset latency.