ArticleFrontiers in microbiology2023
Acupuncture improved hepatic steatosis in HFD-induced NAFLD rats by regulating intestinal microbiota.
Article in Frontiers in microbiology, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
12 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 18 citations in OpenAlex.
- The efficacy and potential mechanism of the acupuncture treatment for type 2 diabetes mellitus: A systematic review and meta-analysis of data from animal models.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2025Pooled it
- Multi-target modulation of traditional Chinese medicine based on the liver-gut axis: a new therapeutic strategy for NAFLD.American journal of translational research · 2026Review
- Exosome Cargo Molecules and NLRP3/BDNF: Clinical and Preclinical Evidence for Acupuncture-Mediated Spinal Cord Injury Recovery.International journal of general medicine · 2026Review
- Microbiota-gut-brain-axis: a new target of acupuncture therapy for post-stroke cognitive impairment.Frontiers in microbiology · 2025Review
- Acupuncture attenuates experimental autoimmune thyroiditis by modulating intestinal microbiota and palmitic acid metabolism.Frontiers in immunology · 2025Article
- Acupuncture modulates the microbiota-gut-brain axis: a new strategy for Parkinson's disease treatment.Frontiers in aging neuroscience · 2025Review
- The Effects of Warm Acupuncture on the Expression ofCurrent issues in molecular biology · 2024Article
- Article
- Integrated traditional Chinese and Western medicine in the prevention and treatment of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease: future directions and strategies.Chinese medicine · 2024Review
- Electroacupuncture at ST36 modulates the intestinal microecology and may help repair the intestinal barrier in the rat model of severe acute pancreatitis.Microbial biotechnology · 2024Article
- Acupuncture influences multiple diseases by regulating gut microbiota.Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2024Review
- Acupuncture, a Promising Therapy for Insulin Resistance and Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease.International journal of general medicine · 2024Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background: Intestinal dysbiosis has been increasingly implicated in the pathogenesis of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Acupuncture has been shown to have beneficial effects on NAFLD, but the mechanism is not yet clear. This study explores the potential beneficial effects of acupuncture on intestinal microbiota in NAFLD. Methods: An NAFLD model in Sprague Dawley rats was established using a high-fat diet (HFD) for 10 weeks. NAFLD rats were randomly divided into control, model, and acupuncture groups. Following acupuncture treatment over 6 weeks, automated biochemical analysis was used to measure serum lipid metabolism parameters, including levels of alanine transferase, aspartate transferase, alkaline phosphatase, total cholesterol, triglycerides, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol. The level of serum inflammatory factors interleukin (IL)-6, IL-10, and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The characteristics of steatosis were evaluated using quantitative computed tomography, hematoxylin and eosin staining, and Oil Red O staining in the liver, while the intestinal microbiota was determined using 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Results: Acupuncture decreased the systemic inflammatory response, ameliorated dyslipidemia, and improved liver function indexes in NAFLD model rats. Tomography and staining indicated that acupuncture reduced steatosis and infiltration of inflammatory cells in the liver. 16S rRNA analysis showed that acupuncture reduced the Firmicutes to Bacteroidetes (F/B) ratio, increased the abundance of microbiota, including Bacteroidales_S24-7_group, Prevotellaceae, Bacteroidaceae, Blautia, norank_f_Bacteroidales_S24-7_group, Bacteroides, and Prevotella_9, and decreased the abundance of Ruminococcaceae_UCG-014. Correlation analysis suggested a close correlation between lipid metabolism, inflammation factors, hepatic steatosis, and the changed intestinal microbiota. Conclusion: Acupuncture can significantly improve lipid metabolism and the systemic inflammatory response in HFD-induced NAFLD rats, potentially by regulating intestinal microbiota composition.
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