Abstract
Aim The study is aimed at investigating the curative effect of acupuncture on simple obesity and its influence on serum levels of prostaglandin E and leptin in Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats. Methods In the study, there are 50 male SD rats. We took 10 as healthy controls and fed 40 with a diet of high fat for 8 weeks. After the 40 rat model was established successfully, we fed 10 rats in the model group with a normal diet and treated 10 rats in the acupuncture group by acupuncture. During the experiment, the body fat and body length of rats were measured weekly, and Lee's index was calculated. After the treatment, the levels of leptin, prostaglandin E, C-reactive protein (CRP), triacylglycerol (TG), cholesterol (CHO), low-density lipoprotein (LDL), and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) were detected, and the liver fat morphology was observed by electron microscope. Results Acupuncture significantly downregulated the serum levels of CRP, TG, CHO, LDL, leptin, and prostaglandin E and upregulated the serum levels of HDL in rats with simple obesity. Conclusion On basis of these results, it was found that acupuncture could boost fat metabolism and weight loss by inhibiting the production of leptin and prostaglandin E.
Highlights
Obesity is a complex disease that is closely related to many other diseases [1]
There were no obvious differences in morphology or weight between the acupuncture group and the model group before treatment
Obesity is a global epidemic disease that increases the incidence of serious diseases such as type 2 diabetes, cancer, hypertension, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, cardiovascular diseases, and dementia [13,14,15,16]
Summary
Obesity is a complex disease that is closely related to many other diseases [1]. There are 650 million obese adults in the world, and 40% of adults in the United States are obese [2]. There are many different interventions for obesity, including lifestyle intervention, surgery, and drug therapy. All of these have advantages and disadvantages, but unhealthy weight control behaviors may lead to many health problems [4,5,6]. There are many treatment methods for simple obesity, including diet, exercise, weight-loss drug therapies, and surgical removal of fat, these methods have different degrees of adverse effects [7]. Acupuncture targeting SIRT1 in the arcuate nucleus of the hypothalamus can improve obesity in insulin-resistant rats induced by a high-fat diet through anorexia effects [12]. Before and after acupuncture treatment, we measured the serum levels of leptin, prostaglandin E, and hormones in SD rats with simple obesity to explore. Computational and Mathematical Methods in Medicine the possible mechanism of acupuncture during the process of treating obesity
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