<p style="text-align: center;">LIU Qiong1, LIU Xia, BI Dingyan,HE Wei, LIU Mailan,LIU Mi, WANG Xiaoyu,ZHANG Xiaoning,JING Xianghong, CHANG Xiao-rong</p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: center;">(1College of Acu-moxibustion and Massage, Hunan University of Chinese Medicine, Changsha 410007, China; 2 department of Physiology, Institute of Acu-moxibustion, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing 100700)</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Abstract</strong>:<strong> Objective</strong> :To observe the effects of acupuncture and hot moxibustion on the priming substances in&nbsp; the&nbsp; local&nbsp; acupoints&nbsp; of&nbsp; Zusanli,&nbsp; such&nbsp; as&nbsp; mast&nbsp; cells,&nbsp; serotonin,&nbsp; histamine,&nbsp; calcitonin&nbsp; gene-related peptide(CGRP),&nbsp; substance&nbsp; P(SP)&nbsp; and&nbsp; transient&nbsp; receptor&nbsp; potential&nbsp; cation&nbsp; channel&nbsp; subfamily&nbsp; V&nbsp; member 1(TRPV1) . Methods: Male C57BL/6 mice and Male&nbsp; TRPV1 knockout (TRPV1-/-) mice were each randomly divided&nbsp; into&nbsp; normal&nbsp; group,&nbsp; acupuncture&nbsp; group&nbsp; and&nbsp; moxibustion&nbsp; group,&nbsp; 5&nbsp; rats&nbsp; in&nbsp; each&nbsp; group&nbsp; for immunofluorescence. After adaptive feeding for 1 week, C57BL/6 and TRPV1-/- acupuncture group were both treated with acupuncture at Zusanli acupoint for 5min; C57BL/6 and TRPV1-/-moxibustion group were both&nbsp; treated&nbsp; with&nbsp; moxibustion&nbsp; at&nbsp; Zusanli&nbsp; acupoint&nbsp; for&nbsp; 30min.&nbsp; After&nbsp; that,&nbsp; rats&nbsp; were&nbsp; sacrificed&nbsp; and&nbsp; the expression of mast cells, serotonin, histamine, SP and TRPV1 both in C57BL/6 and TRPV1-/-&nbsp; mice with or without acupuncture and moxibustion were detected. <strong>Result</strong>: The number of mast cells in C57BL/6mice acupuncture and&nbsp; &nbsp;moxibustion group was significantly higher than that in C57BL/6 blank group, and there exist mast cell aggregation and degranulation, moreover, degeneration in the moxibustion group was more extensive than the acupuncture group(P&lt;0.05). To TRPV1-/- mice, both with acupuncture and moxibustion all increased the expression of mast cell, more obvious mast cell&nbsp; aggregation were seen in acupuncture group and more obvious mast cell degranulation in moxibustion group, but both of these expression were lower&nbsp; than&nbsp; C57BL/6&nbsp; mice(P&lt;0.05).&nbsp; Naturally,&nbsp; both&nbsp; C57BL/6&nbsp; and&nbsp; TRPV1-/-&nbsp; mice&nbsp; with&nbsp; acupuncture&nbsp; and moxibustion were all promote the releasing of 5-HT and HA in the local skin of the acupoints and their accumulation around the blood vessels, meanwhile, increasing the expression of CGRP, SP and VR1-positive fibers and their accumulation around the blood vessels and hair follicles(P&lt;0.05). Crucially, the expression of 5-HT、HA、CGRP、SP and VR1 in TRPV1-/-&nbsp; mice were lower than C57BL/6 mice,sepecially the expression of&nbsp; VR1&nbsp; (P&lt;0.05). <strong>Conclusion</strong>:&nbsp; Both&nbsp; acupuncture&nbsp; and&nbsp; moxibustion&nbsp; exert&nbsp; their&nbsp; effcets&nbsp; by&nbsp; promoting&nbsp; the expression of skin-related chemicals in the acupoints,then activating the neuro-endocrine-immune system in the skin and regulating the neurotransmitterin the center nervous system. Crucially, the differences of these two is that the differences expression of local chemical substances in the area,&nbsp; moxibustion caused the local chemical substances gathered in the epidermis with a wide range while acupuncture leading to the gathering of chemical substances the dermis or subcutaneous tissue with a narrow range.</p><p><strong>Key words</strong>: Acupuncture,hot moxibustion,mast cell,nociceptive peptide</p><p><br/></p>