Abstract
BackgroundTo study the influence of acupuncture and its possible mechanism on white adipose tissue of high fat diet-induced obese.MethodsFour-week-old C57BL/6 J mice were randomly divided into a normal diet group and a high-fat diet (HFD) group. After 8 weeks, the HFD mice were randomly divided into Electro-acupuncture (EA) group and control group. Mice in the EA group were electro-acupunctured, under physical restraint, on Zusanli (ST36) and Neiting (ST44) acupoints, while the mice in the control group were under physical restraint only. Body weight and food intake were monitored, and serum leptin, cholesterol and triglyceride levels were measured by using biochemistrical methods. The effect of EA on white adipose tissues (WAT) was assessed by qPCR, immunobloting, immunohistochemistry (IHC), immunoprecipitation and cold endurance experiment.ResultsThe WAT/body weight ratio decreased (P < 0.05) in the EA group, albeit no significant difference on food consumption between EA and control groups. The difference in the darkness of Epi-WAT between EA and control groups could be distinguished visually. HE staining indicated that the EA mice had an increased number of UCP1-immunoreactive paucilocular adipocytes in their WAT. The expressions of brown adipose tissue (BAT) markers, including UCP1, COX4il and Nrtf1 were increased in the WAT of EA mice, acetylation of Pparγ was decreased by electro-acupuncture.ConclusionEA can remodel WAT to BAT through inducing UCP1 expression, and this may be one of the mechanisms by which acupuncture affects weight loss.
Highlights
To study the influence of acupuncture and its possible mechanism on white adipose tissue of high fat diet-induced obese
Our data suggest that the effectiveness of electro-acupuncture on obesity maybe due to the reduction in the ratio of weight of white adipose tissue (WAT)/body weight
We found that Un-coupling protein 1 (UCP1) gene expression in WAT increased almost 14 folds in EA mice than in the control mice (Figure 2A), and the UCP1 protein expression significantly increased in EA mice (Figure 2B)
Summary
To study the influence of acupuncture and its possible mechanism on white adipose tissue of high fat diet-induced obese. BAT dissipates energy directly as heat by uncoupling fatty acid oxidation from ATP production via uncoupling protein-1(UCP1), which is characteristically expressed in the mitochondrial inner membrane of brown adipocytes and, when activated, uncouples the oxidation of fuel substrates from the production of ATP, generating heat [3]. Inducible brown-like adipocytes from white adipose tissue, in response to appropriate stimulation, have become the target of many obesity therapeutics [6,7,8,9]. Novel approaches using specific drugs or other stimulations to induce a program of brown fat differentiation, including UCP1 expression and enhanced oxidative metabolism, in white adipose cells are expected to be on the rise
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