Acupoint Massage Therapy Alters the Composition of Gut Microbiome in Functional Constipation Patients

Abstract

Objective and Background. Constipation is under high incidence globally. Current drug treatment on constipation, especially chronic functional constipation (CFC), lacks of efficiency and has an adverse reaction. Acupoint Massage Therapy (AMT) is traditionally applied to CFC with a good success rate and without unfavorable reaction in China. The underline mechanism of AMT remains unclear. Recent studies revealed that gut microbiome is involved in constipation development and treatment. Our aim is to evaluate the composition of gut microbiome of CFC patients after AMT. Patients and Methods. 104 CFC patients were enrolled in the study, including 49 males and 55 females. We investigated the gut microbiome of CFC patients after AMT through 16SrDNA sequencing. Results. Results showed the overall structure of gut microbiome has no significant difference between experimental and control groups. In the genus level, the abundance of Pseudobutyrivibrio and Ruminiclostridium is higher in the experiment group than in the control, whereas that of Fusicatenibacter is less. The 16S KEGG function prediction suggested that Parkinson disease, retinol metabolism, and arachidonic acid metabolism could explain the biological function of different gut microbiome. Furthermore, cytokines in the serum showed a correlation with the abundance of Pseudobutyrivibrio in CFC. Conclusion. AMT could change the composition of gut microbiome which is associated with cytokines in CFC patients.