Lee Yumi, Choi Donghee, Park Junghye, Kim Jae Gwan, Choi Taejin, Youn Daehwan
Department of Biomedical Science and Engineering, Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology, Gwangju 61005, Republic of Korea.
Department of Korean Medicine, Dongshin University, Naju 58245, Republic of Korea.
Curr Issues Mol Biol. 2024 Oct 17;46(10):11580-11592. doi: 10.3390/cimb46100687.
This study investigated the effects of acupuncture and warm acupuncture on the expression and mechanism of the AMP-activated protein kinase () signalling pathway associated with lipid accumulation in the liver tissue of rats with metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) induced by a high-fat diet. Sprague-Dawley rats were categorised into four groups: control (CON), untreated MAFLD (MAFLD), and two MAFLD groups treated with acupuncture (ACU) and warm acupuncture (WA). The treatment groups underwent 16 application sessions over 8 weeks at the SP9 and BL18 acupoints. We measured the expression levels of , sterol regulatory element-binding protein1 (), acetyl-coenzyme A carboxylase (), peroxisome proliferator-activated receptorα (), carnitine palmitoyltransferase1 (), and . was activated in both ACU and WA groups. WA downregulated both SREBP1 and ACC expression at the protein level, whereas the acupuncture treatment downregulated SREBP1 expression. Additionally, WA selectively induced the activation of signalling pathways related to , and at the mRNA level. Histological observations confirmed that fat accumulation was reduced in both the ACU and the WA groups compared to the MAFLD group. The WA treatment-promoted amelioration of HFD-induced MAFLD may be related to the activation of the pathway in the liver.
本研究探讨针刺和温针疗法对高脂饮食诱导的代谢功能障碍相关脂肪性肝病（MAFLD）大鼠肝组织中与脂质蓄积相关的AMP激活蛋白激酶（）信号通路的表达及机制的影响。将Sprague-Dawley大鼠分为四组：对照组（CON）、未治疗的MAFLD组（MAFLD），以及两组分别接受针刺（ACU）和温针（WA）治疗的MAFLD组。治疗组在SP9和BL18穴位进行了为期8周、共16次的治疗。我们检测了、固醇调节元件结合蛋白1（）、乙酰辅酶A羧化酶（）、过氧化物酶体增殖物激活受体α（）、肉碱棕榈酰转移酶1（）和的表达水平。ACU组和WA组中均被激活。温针在蛋白水平下调了SREBP1和ACC的表达，而针刺治疗下调了SREBP1的表达。此外，温针在mRNA水平选择性诱导了与、和相关的信号通路的激活。组织学观察证实，与MAFLD组相比，ACU组和WA组的脂肪蓄积均减少。温针治疗促进高脂饮食诱导的MAFLD的改善可能与肝脏中通路的激活有关。
