Moxibustion improves ovary function by suppressing apoptosis events and upregulating antioxidant defenses in natural aging ovary

Ovarian aging is a natural physiological phenomenon accompanied by follicular atresia as well as the decline of oocyte quality. Moxibustion is a form of traditional Chinese medicine therapy which has been reported to treat many aging-related problems and improve immune defense. Moxibustion treatment was applied to the 10-month female rats for 2 or 6 months to evaluate whether moxibustion could delay ovarian aging. The expression levels of NQO-1, HO-1, Bax and Bcl-2 were examined by Western blotting. The serum levels of E2 and FSH concentration were measured through ELISA. P21, P16, NQO-1, HO-1, Bax and Bcl-2 were measured by qRT-PCR. We demonstrated that moxibustion treatment could attenuate oxidative stress and apoptosis in ovaries, which lead to ovarian aging. The ovary histomorphology, serum FSH, E2 levels as well as aging markers P21 and P16 expression were compared among the groups, which showed that moxibustion treatment could alleviate the ovary fibrosis, decrease the aging markers expression and increase secretion of ovary functional hormones. The mRNA and protein expression levels of the antioxidative stress-related genes HO-1 and NQO-1 were increased after moxibustion treatment. The antiapoptotic factor Bcl-2 and proapoptotic factor Bax were also detected by qRT-PCR and western blotting, and the results demonstrated that moxibustion significantly downregulated the ratio of Bax/Bcl-2, suggesting that moxibustion could reduce apoptosis in the ovaries of aged rats. In conclusion, our research revealed that moxibustion could improve ovary function by suppressing apoptosis events and upregulating antioxidant defenses in the natural aging ovary.