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

• Main Authors: Jacqueline J.T. Liaw (Author), Philip V. Peplow (Author)
• Format: Book
• Published: Medical Association of Pharmacopuncture Institute, 2016-08-01T00:00:00Z.
• Subjects: article
• Online Access: Connect to this object online.

Summary

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.

Item Description

2005-2901
10.1016/j.jams.2016.02.002