Zhou Yu-Dian, Yang Shu-Rui, Wang Ya-Yuan, Lu Wei, Chen Li, Liang Feng-Xia
College of Acupuncture and Orthopedics, Hubei University of CM/Hubei Provincial Collaborative Innovation Center of Preventive Treatment by Acupuncture and Moxibustion, Wuhan 430061, China.
Zhongguo Zhen Jiu. 2022 Oct 12;42(10):1145-52. doi: 10.13703/j.0255-2930.20211014-0001.
To observe the effect of electroacupuncture (EA) at different acupoint combination on intestinal inflammatory response, intestinal flora structure and metabolic function in obese rats.
Ninety male Wistar rats aged 8 weeks were collected. Ten rats were randomly collected from 15 rats fed with regular forage in a normal group and the rest 75 rats were fed with high-fat forage to induce obesity models. Forty rats were modeled successfully and randomized into a model group, a lower-limb EA group, an abdomen EA group and a biaoben acupoints group, 10 rats in each one. "Zusanli" (ST 36) and "Fenglong" (ST 40) were selected in the lower-limb EA group, "Zhongwan "(CV 12), "Tianshu "(ST 25) and "Guanyuan" (CV 4) were selected in the abdomen EA group. The acupoint prescriptions in the above two groups were combined in the biaoben acupoints group. EA was delivered in all of the intervention groups, with continuous wave, 2 Hz in frequency and 1 mA in current intensity. The intervention was administered three times weekly (on Monday, Wednesday and Friday), for consecutive 8 weeks. Before intervention and on the last day of the 8th week of intervention, the body weight and 24 h food intake were observed. After intervention, using Western blot method, the proteins expressions of interleukin 6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α) were detected in the tissue of the small intestine; 16S rRNA sequencing technology was adopted to detect the distribution structure and metabolic function of intestinal flora.
Compared with the normal group, the body weight, the food intake and the proteins expressions of IL-6 and TNF-α in small intestine were all increased in the model group (<0.01). The above indexes of each EA intervention group were all decreased (<0.01) when compared with the model group. The proteins expressions of IL-6 and TNF-α in the small intestine tissue of rats in biaoben acupoints group were lower than those in the other two EA intervention groups (<0.01). Compared with the normal group, the ratio of / was elevated (<0.01), while the abundance of , and decreased in the model group (<0.01). When compared with the model group, the ratio of / in each EA intervention group was reduced (<0.01) and the abundance of , and increased (<0.01). Compared with the other two EA intervention groups, the abundance of and was increased (<0.01), while the abundance of and reduced (<0.01) in the biaoben acupoints group. In the model group, the abundance of clusters of orthologous groups of proteins (COG) function of intestinal flora in the transportation and metabolism of carbohydrate, amino acid and lipid, as well as in the signal transduction mechanisms were reduced when compared with the normal group (<0.01). In comparison with the model group, the abundance of the above COG function was increased in each EA intervention group (<0.01, <0.05).
Electroacupuncture at biaoben acupoint combination may attenuate intestinal inflammatory response and effectively improve the structure and function of intestinal flora. The effect is superior to the intervention at the acupoints on the lower limbs and those on the abdomen, better regulating the abundance of specific intestinal flora.
观察不同穴位组合电针（EA）对肥胖大鼠肠道炎症反应、肠道菌群结构及代谢功能的影响。
选取90只8周龄雄性Wistar大鼠。正常组从15只喂食常规饲料的大鼠中随机选取10只，其余75只喂食高脂饲料诱导肥胖模型。40只造模成功的大鼠随机分为模型组、下肢电针组、腹部电针组和标本配穴组，每组10只。下肢电针组选取“足三里”（ST 36）和“丰隆”（ST 40）；腹部电针组选取“中脘”（CV 12）、“天枢”（ST 25）和“关元”（CV 4）。标本配穴组将上述两组穴位处方进行组合。所有干预组均给予电针治疗，采用连续波，频率2Hz，电流强度1mA。干预每周3次（周一、周三和周五），连续8周。干预前及干预第8周最后一天观察体重和24小时食物摄入量。干预后，采用蛋白质免疫印迹法检测小肠组织中白细胞介素6（IL-6）和肿瘤坏死因子α（TNF-α）的蛋白表达；采用16S rRNA测序技术检测肠道菌群的分布结构及代谢功能。
与正常组比较，模型组体重、食物摄入量及小肠组织中IL-6和TNF-α蛋白表达均升高（<0.01）。各电针干预组上述指标与模型组比较均降低（<0.01）。标本配穴组大鼠小肠组织中IL-6和TNF-α蛋白表达低于其他两组电针干预组（<0.01）。与正常组比较，模型组/比值升高（<0.01），而、和丰度降低（<0.01）。与模型组比较，各电针干预组/比值降低（<0.01），、和丰度升高（<0.01）。与其他两组电针干预组比较，标本配穴组和丰度升高（<0.01），而和丰度降低（<0.01）。与正常组比较，模型组肠道菌群在碳水化合物、氨基酸和脂质转运与代谢以及信号转导机制方面的直系同源蛋白簇（COG）功能丰度降低（<0.01）。与模型组比较各电针干预组上述COG功能丰度升高（<0.01，<0.05）。
标本配穴电针可减轻肠道炎症反应，有效改善肠道菌群结构和功能。其效果优于下肢穴位和腹部穴位干预，能更好地调节特定肠道菌群的丰度。
