| MeSH |
Acupuncture Therapy*
Adiponectin/blood
Adult
Biomarkers/blood
Body Mass Index
Body Weight
Cholesterol, HDL/blood
Cholesterol, LDL/blood
Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2/blood
Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2/therapy*
Fatty Acids, Nonesterified/blood
Female
Glucagon-Like Peptide 1/blood
Humans
Insulin/blood
Insulin Resistance*
Interleukin-6/blood
Leptin/blood
Male
Metformin/therapeutic use*
Obesity/blood
Obesity/complications
Obesity/therapy
Resistin/blood
Serotonin/blood
Triglycerides/blood
Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha/blood
Weight Loss/drug effects* |
| Abstract |
OBJECTIVE:
Obesity induces insulin resistance (IR), the key etiologic defect of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Therefore, an incidence of obesity-induced diabetes is expected to decrease if obesity is controlled. Although Metformin is currently one of the main treatment options for T2DM in obese patients, resulting in an average of 5% weight loss, adequate weight control in all patients cannot be achieved with Metformin alone. Thus, additional therapies with a weight loss effect, such as acupuncture, may improve the effectiveness of Metformin.
SUBJECTIVE:
We designed this randomized clinical trial (RCT) to compare the effects of Metformin monotherapy with that of Metformin and acupuncture combined therapy on weight loss and insulin sensitivity among overweight/obese T2DM patients, to understand whether acupuncture plus Metformin is a better approach than Metformin only on treating diabetes. To understand whether acupuncture can be an insulin sensitizer and, if so, its therapeutic mechanism.
RESULTS:
Our results show that Metformin and acupuncture combined therapy significantly improves body weight, body mass index (BMI), fasting blood sugar (FBS), fasting insulin (FINS), homeostasis model assessment (HOMA) index, interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), leptin, adiponectin, glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), resistin, serotonin, free fatty acids (FFAs), triglyceride (TG), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDLc), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDLc) and ceramides.
CONCLUSIONS:
Consequently, Metformin and acupuncture combined therapy is more effective than Metformin only, proving that acupuncture is an insulin sensitizer and is able to improve insulin sensitivity possibly by reducing body weight and inflammation, while improving lipid metabolism and adipokines. As a result, electro-acupuncture (EA) might be useful in controlling the ongoing epidemics in obesity and T2DM. |
