Abstract
BackgroundIncreasing evidence have indicated the relationship between intestinal dysbiosis and hypertension. We aimed to evaluate the effect of the electroacupuncture (EA) on intestinal microbiota in patients with stage 1 hypertension.Methods93 hypertensive patients and 15 healthy subjects were enrolled in this study. Applying a highly accurate oscillometric device to evaluate the antihypertensive effect of EA. 16S rRNA sequencing was used to profile stool microbial communities from Healthy group, Before treatment (BT) group and After treatment (AT) group, and various multivariate analysis approaches were used to assess diversity, composition and abundance of intestinal microbiota.ResultsIn this study, EA significantly decreased the blood pressure (BP) of hypertensive patients. Higher abundance of Firmicutes and lower Bacteroidetes abundance were observed in the BT group compared to the Healthy group. And EA treatment significantly decreased the Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes ratio compared to the BT group. Moreover, at the genus level, there was an increased abundance of Escherichia-Shigella in patients with hypertension, while Blautia were decreased, and EA reversed these changes.ConclusionsOur study indicates that EA can effectively lower BP and improve the structure of intestinal microbiota which are correlate with the alteration of blood pressure by electroacupuncture.Trial registration: Clinicaltrial.gov, NCT01701726. Registered 5 October 2012, https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/study/NCT01701726
Highlights
Increasing evidence have indicated the relationship between intestinal dysbiosis and hypertension
The baseline characteristics and blood pressure (BP)-related parameters such as gender, age, nationality, BMI, and other physiological parameters like blood sugar, total cholesterol, RBC, WBC demonstrated no significant difference in the hypertensive patients and healthy control
EA treatment reduced blood pressure indices compared with the baseline After the six-week EA treatment, the blood pressure of patients differed significantly (Table 2)
Summary
Increasing evidence have indicated the relationship between intestinal dysbiosis and hypertension. We aimed to evaluate the effect of the electroacupuncture (EA) on intestinal microbiota in patients with stage 1 hypertension. Because of the aging of the population and changes of life style and living environment, Wang et al Chin Med (2021) 16:7 used in the treatment of patients with stage 1 hypertension do not reduce mortality or morbidity but increase the risk of adverse events in RCTs [9, 10]. A recent meta-analysis showed that acupuncture could be used for treating hypertension, and it may have the same effects as common medication [11]. Other studies have indicated that acupuncture is effective to lower blood pressure in prehypertension and stage 1 hypertension [12, 13]. Acupuncture could be a potential therapy for stage 1 hypertension
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