Mechanisms of acupuncture for non-alcoholic fatty liver disease: researches progress and prospects

Abstract

Literature regarding the pathogenesis of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and the mechanisms of acupuncture for NAFLD published between January of 2006 to December of 2016 was searched in CBM database, Wanfang database, CNKI database and PubMed. After analysis, the possible mechanisms of acupuncture for NAFLD were summarized from 5 following aspects: acupuncture regulating lipid metabolism and participating lipid metabolism-related signaling pathways, acupuncture improving insulin resistance, acupuncture increasing the antioxidant levels of liver tissue to improve lipid peroxidation, acupuncture inhabiting the expression of inflammatory cytokines, and acupuncture improving the morphology and structure of hepatocyte. Based on the characteristics of acupuncture, the suggestions and prospects of future research were proposed from the 4 following aspects: the specificity and compatibility of acupoint, the treatment timing of acupuncture, the stimulus parameter of acupuncture, and the intervention of acupuncture combined with dietary control.