Abstract
Abstract This study aims to review the effects of conventional and organic diet on the diversity of rat intestinal microbiota and look at how intestinal microbiota composition changes the following moxibustion at the Piyu and Zusanli points. A total of twenty-four Sprague Dawley (SD) rats of the Specific-Pathogen-Free (SPF) grade were haphazardly assigned to one of 3 groups: conventional food + moxibustion, conventional food, and organic food. For 12 weeks, organic food was given to the organic category, and typical food was prepared for the conventional category of mices, and mices in the combination category received typical food for eight weeks and administered moxibustion at the Piyu and Zusanli points for another four weeks. Polymerase Chain Reaction-Denaturing Gradient Gel Electrophoresis (PCR-DGGE) was used to assess alterations in intestinal flora. The content of intestinal microbiota differed significantly across the three groups, according to the similarity clustering analysis. In the combination group, the intestinal bacterial diversity index rose considerably (P < 0.05). Moxibustion at Zusanli and Piyu points enhanced Bacteroides stercoris and Barnesiella intestinihominis growth, according to DNA sequencing. It was concluded that moxibustion has a greater influence on intestinal bacterial diversity than an organic diet.