Abstract
Obesity is a prevalent metabolic disease caused by an imbalance in food intake and energy expenditure. Although acupuncture is widely used in the treatment of obesity in a clinical setting, its mechanism has not been adequately elucidated. As the key pivot of appetite signals, the hypothalamus receives afferent and efferent signals from the brainstem and peripheral tissue, leading to the formation of a complex appetite regulation circuit, thereby effectively regulating food intake and energy homeostasis. This review mainly discusses the relationship between the hypothalamic nuclei, related neuropeptides, brainstem, peripheral signals, and obesity, as well as mechanisms of acupuncture on obesity from the perspective of the hypothalamus, exploring the current evidence and therapeutic targets for mechanism of action of acupuncture in obesity.
Highlights
Obesity is a condition that is exceedingly prevalent worldwide and has been considered a risk factor for hypertension, diabetes, hyperlipidemia, fatty liver, cardiovascular disease, and sleep apnea [1]
Obesity does not stem from a simple problem of self-control, rather it occurs owing to the chronic, excessive accumulation of body-fat, caused by long-term disorders in energy metabolism and appetite regulation [3, 4]
Obesity is a common metabolic disorder disease characterized by increased food intake and decreased energy consumption
Summary
Obesity is a condition that is exceedingly prevalent worldwide and has been considered a risk factor for hypertension, diabetes, hyperlipidemia, fatty liver, cardiovascular disease, and sleep apnea [1]. Acupuncture, one of the oldest medical therapies and as a crucial segment of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), has been widely used to treat various diseases for at least 3000 years It is one of the most popular complementary and alternative approaches, which is endorsed by the WHO and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) [12,13,14]. The hypothalamus transmits neuronal-pathway signals through hypothalamic nuclei and related neuropeptides, interacting with the brain stem and peripheral signals, thereby regulating food intake and energy balance and achieving the goal of weight control. We probe into the interplay between the hypothalamic nuclei, related neuropeptides, brainstem, peripheral signals, and obesity, mainly derived from studies in rat models, and explore the mechanism of acupuncture on obesity from the perspective of the hypothalamus, and identify potential new targets for acupuncture in the treatment of obesity
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