Abstract
Objective To investigate the effects of acupuncture on metabolic health and gut microbiota dysbiosis in diet-induced abdominal obese model. Materials and Methods Male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly distributed into normal chow diet (NCD) group and high-fat diet (HFD) group. After 12 weeks of HFD feeding, an abdominal obese rat model was established. The abdominal obese rats were further assigned to acupuncture group (n=7) and nontreated HFD group (n=7). Acupuncture was applied to bilateral GB 26 of rats for 8 weeks. Subsequently, the body weight, waist circumference (WC), visceral fat mass, and liver weight were measured weekly in all rats. Metabolic parameters such as total cholesterol, triglyceride, alanine aminotransferase, aspartate transaminase, and blood glucose were measured by an automatic biochemical analyzer. The serum levels of insulin (INS) were determined using Rat INS ELISA Kit. Analysis of gut microbiota was carried out by 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Results Acupuncture decreased the body weight, WC, and visceral adipose tissues of HFD-induced abdominal obese rats. In addition, insulin sensitivity, glucose homeostasis, and lipid metabolism were improved by this treatment. Furthermore, electroacupuncture effectively modified the composition of gut microbiota, mainly via decreasing Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes ratio and increasing Prevotella_9 abundance. Conclusions Electroacupuncture can ameliorate abdominal obesity and prevent metabolic disorders in HFD-induced abdominal obese rats, via the modulation of gut microbiota.
Highlights
Obesity is a multifactorial disease resulting from the interplay between environmental, cultural, behavioral, metabolic, and genetic factors [1,2,3,4,5]
These results imply that acupuncture may play a beneficial role in reducing body weight and suppressing body fat accumulation, which suggested that acupuncture could decrease appetite in high-fat diet (HFD)-induced abdominal obese rats
The levels of fasting blood insulin (FINS) and homeostasis assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) were dramatically increased (P < 0.001) in HFD group compared with normal chow diet (NCD) group, while being significantly decreased (P < 0.01) in acupuncture group compared to HFD group (Figures 3(f)-3(g))
Summary
Obesity is a multifactorial disease resulting from the interplay between environmental, cultural, behavioral, metabolic, and genetic factors [1,2,3,4,5]. Abdominal obesity is considered to be more closely associated with the risks of metabolic disease [6, 7], nonalcoholic fatty liver disease [8, 9], and cardiovascular diseases [10, 11], which ranks as an independent risk factor of all-cause mortality [12]. Increasing evidence indicates that an aberrant Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes ratio is associated with the risk of overweight and obesity [19,20,21,22]. A deeper understanding of how gut microbiota dysbiosis can help to elucidate the pathogenesis of obesity and potentiate a novel therapeutic approach for obesity-related comorbidities
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callMore From: Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
