Differential Effect of Electroacupuncture on Inflammatory Adipokines in Two Rat Models of Obesity

• Main Authors: Jacqueline J.T. Liaw, Philip V. Peplow
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Medical Association of Pharmacopuncture Institute 2016-08-01
• Series: Journal of Acupuncture & Meridian Studies
• Subjects: adipokines; blood glucose; electroacupuncture; obesity; rat models
• Online Access: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2005290116300243

Chronic inflammation is known to be associated with visceral obesity and insulin resistance which are characterized by altered levels of production of pro- and anti-inflammatory adipokines. The dysregulation of the production of inflammatory adipokines and their functions in obese individuals leads to a state of chronic low-grade inflammation and may promote obesity-linked metabolic disorders and cardiovascular diseases such as insulin resistance, metabolic syndrome, and atherosclerosis. Electroacupuncture (EA) was tested to see if there was a difference in its effect on pro- and anti-inflammatory adipokine levels in the blood serum and the white adipose tissue of obese Zucker fatty rats and high-fat diet-induced obese Long Evans rats. In the two rat models of obesity, on Day 12 of treatment, repeated applications of EA were seen to have had a significant differential effect for serum tumor necrosis factor-α, adiponectin, the adiponectin:leptin ratio, and blood glucose. For the adipose tissue, there was a differential effect for adiponectin that was on the borderline of significance. To explore these changes further and how they might affect insulin resistance would require a modification to the research design to use larger group sizes for the two models or to give a greater number of EA treatments.