Objective To investigate the effect of moxibustion on autophagy and amyloid β-peptide1-42(Aβ

1-42

) protein expression in amyloid precursor protein/presenilin 1（APP/PS1） double-transgenic mice with Alzheimer’s disease（AD）.Methods After 2-month adaptive feeding

fifty-six 6-month-old APP/PS1 double transgenic AD mice were randomly divided into a model group

a moxibustion group

a rapamycin group and an inhibitor group

14 mice in each group.Another 14C57BL/6J mice with the same age were used as a normal group.The mice in the moxibustion group were treated with monkshood cake-separated moxibustion at "Baihui"（GV 20）

"Fengfu"（GV 16） and "Dazhui"（GV 14） for 20 min;the mice in the rapamycin group were intraperitoneally injected with rapamycin（2 mg/kg）;the mice in the inhibitor group were treated with moxibustion and injection of 1.5 mg/kg 3-methyladenine（3-MA）.All the treatments were given once a day for consecutive 2 weeks.The morphology of hippocampal tissue was observed by HE staining;the ultrastructure of hippocampal tissue was observed by transmission electron microscopy;the expression of Aβ

1-42

protein in frontal cortex and hippocampal tissue was detected by immunohistochemistry;the expressions of mammalian target of rapamycin（mTOR）

phosphorylated mTOR（p-m TOR）

p70 ribosomal protein S6 kinase（p70S6K） and phosphorylated p70S6K（p-p70S6K） protein in hippocampus were detected by Western blot method.Results Compared with the normal group

the number of neuron cells was decreased

cells were necrotic and deformed

and autophagy vesicle and lysosome were decreased in the model group.Compared with the model group

the number of neuron cells was increased

cell necrosis was decreased

and autophagy vesicle and lysosome were increased in the moxibustion group and the rapamycin group.Compared with the normal group

the protein expressions of Aβ

1-42

mTOR

p-m TOR

p70S6K and p-p70S6K in the model group were increased（P

<

0.05）;compared with the model group

the protein expressions of Aβ

1-42

mTOR

p-m TOR

p70S6K and p-p70S6K in the moxibustion group

rapamycin group and inhibitor group were decreased（P

<

0.05）;compared with the inhibitor group

the protein expressions of Aβ

1-42

mTOR

p-m TOR

p70S6K and p-p70S6K in the moxibustion group and rapamycin group were decreased（P

<

0.05）;compared with the rapamycin group

the protein expressions of mTOR

p-m TOR

p70S6K and p-p70S6K in the moxibustion group were decreased（P

<

0.05）.Conclusion Moxibustion could enhance autophagy in hippocampal tissue of APP/PS1 double transgenic AD mice and reduce abnormal Aβ aggregation in brain tissue

the mechanism may be related to the inhibition of mTOR/p70S6K signaling pathway.