Tang Yue-Xia, Meng Jian-Zhong, Ding Ya-Juan, Hong Hao, Yu Mei-Ling, Jing Xin-Yue, Lu Sheng-Feng, Zhu Bing-Mei
Key Laboratory of Acupuncture and Medicine Research of the Ministry of Education, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing 210023, China.
Zhen Ci Yan Jiu. 2017 Feb 25;42(1):39-44.
To investigate the effects of electroacupuncture (EA) on the expression of adenosine receptor (AR) in the white adipose tissue (WAT) of diet-induced obese (DIO) mice, so as to reveal a peripheral mechanism of EA underlying improvement of body weight.
Forty three-week-old C 57 BL/6 male mice were divided into normal diet group (=12) and high fat diet group (=28) randomly, and fed by normal diet and high fat diet for 12 weeks, respectively. In the high fat diet group, mice with body weight over 20% heavier than that of the normal diet group were considered as obese mice. The normal diet mice and the obese mice were divided into normal group (CD, =5) and normal plus EA group (CD+EA, =7), or obese group (HFD, =6) and obese plus EA group (HFD+EA, =12). The CD+EA group and the HFD+EA group were treated with EA at "Zusanli"(ST 36) and "Neiting"(ST 44, 2 Hz/15 Hz, 0.6-1.0 mA) for 20 min, 6 times a week for 4 weeks. Body weight, ratio of WAT/body weight were calculated, qPCR and Western blot were applied to detect mRNA and protein levels of adenosine receptors in the epididymal adipose tissue (Epi-WAT), respectively.
Compared with the normal diet group, high fat diet significantly increased body weight in C 57 BL/6 mice after feeding for 12 weeks (<0.01); 18 out of 28 mice in the high fat diet group were classified as obesity. After treatment, the body weight and the ratio of Epi-WAT/body weight of the HFD group were increased than those in the CD group (<0.05), the change of body weight in the HFD group was bigger than that in the CD group (<0.01). Compared with the HFD group, the body weight and the ratio of Epi-WAT/body weight of the HFD+EA group were decreased after EA (<0.05), the change of body weight was also significantly increased (<0.01). No significant differences were found among the four groups in the expression level of AR mRNA (>0.05). The expression of AR mRNA in the HFD group was lower than that in the CD group (<0.01), while the expressions of A R and AR proteins were decreased in the HFD group than in the CD group (<0.01). In comparison with the HFD group, the expression levels of AR and AR mRNAs and proteins were significantly up-regulated in the HFD+EA group, respectively (<0.05, <0.01).
EA intervention is able to reduce the body weight of DIO mice, which Feb be associated with its effects in regulating the expression of AR and AR in WAT, suggesting a new mechanism of EA in accelerating peripheral WAT metabolism.
探讨电针（EA）对饮食诱导肥胖（DIO）小鼠白色脂肪组织（WAT）中腺苷受体（AR）表达的影响，以揭示EA改善体重的外周机制。
将40只3周龄C57BL/6雄性小鼠随机分为正常饮食组（n = 12）和高脂饮食组（n = 28），分别给予正常饮食和高脂饮食12周。在高脂饮食组中，体重比正常饮食组重20%以上的小鼠被视为肥胖小鼠。将正常饮食小鼠和肥胖小鼠分为正常组（CD，n = 5）和正常加EA组（CD + EA，n = 7），或肥胖组（HFD，n = 6）和肥胖加EA组（HFD + EA，n = 12）。CD + EA组和HFD + EA组在“足三里”（ST 36）和“内庭”（ST 44，2 Hz/15 Hz，0.6 - 1.0 mA）处接受电针治疗20分钟，每周6次，共4周。计算体重、WAT/体重比，应用qPCR和蛋白质印迹法分别检测附睾脂肪组织（Epi - WAT）中腺苷受体的mRNA和蛋白质水平。
与正常饮食组相比，高脂饮食喂养12周后C57BL/6小鼠体重显著增加（P < 0.01）；高脂饮食组28只小鼠中有18只被归类为肥胖。治疗后，HFD组的体重和Epi - WAT/体重比均高于CD组（P < 0.05），HFD组体重变化大于CD组（P < 0.01）。与HFD组相比，电针后HFD + EA组的体重和Epi - WAT/体重比均降低（P < 0.05），体重变化也显著减小（P < 0.01）。四组间AR mRNA表达水平无显著差异（P > 0.05）。HFD组AR mRNA表达低于CD组（P < 0.01），而HFD组ARα和ARβ蛋白表达均低于CD组（P < 0.01）。与HFD组相比，HFD + EA组ARα和ARβ的mRNA和蛋白表达水平均显著上调（P < 0.05，P < 0.01）。
电针干预能够降低DIO小鼠体重，这可能与其调节WAT中ARα和ARβ表达的作用有关，提示电针在加速外周WAT代谢方面有新机制。
