The article reviews the clinical and mechanism researches of acupuncture-moxibustion in treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in recent two decades at home and abroad. The results indicate that acupuncture-moxibustion is conductive to RA with fewer adverse reactions for the patients, and improves joint function and quality of life to a certain extent. The therapeutic results of acupuncture-moxibustion result from the multi-target, multi-level collaborative effect on RA. In mechanism, the overall regulation of the neuro-immuno-endocrine system is involved. RA is attenuated through inhibiting inflammatory responses, regulating relevant signaling pathways, maintaining the balance of osteoblasts and articular cartilage, and adjusting the gene expression. Although some achievements have been obtained in clinical and mechanism researches, it still needs to deepen the mechanism research so as to promote the clinical application of acupuncture-moxibustion and provide the new approaches to its innovation and development.
本文对近20余年针灸治疗类风湿关节炎（RA）的国内外临床研究和机制研究进行梳理。结果表明，针灸治疗可以使RA患者获益且不良反应较少，在一定程度上改善RA患者的关节功能和生活质量。针灸治疗RA是多靶点、多层次共同作用的结果，针灸疗效机制包括从整体角度上调节神经-免疫-内分泌系统，以及通过抑制炎性反应、调节相关信号通路、维持骨细胞和关节软骨内平衡、调节基因表达等改善RA。尽管针灸治疗RA的临床和机制研究已取得一定进展，但针灸治疗RA的机制仍有待深入探索，从而推动针灸疗法在临床上的广泛应用，为其创新和发展提供新的思路。.
Keywords: acupuncture-moxibustion; clinical research; mechanism; review; rheumatoid arthritis.