Effect of Electroacupuncture on Visceral and Hepatic Fat in Women with Abdominal Obesity: A Randomized Controlled Study Based on Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Restricted accessResearch articleFirst published online April, 2017
Effect of Electroacupuncture on Visceral and Hepatic Fat in Women with Abdominal Obesity: A Randomized Controlled Study Based on Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Visceral adipose tissue (VAT) and hepatic fat deposition are the most important risk factors for women's health. Acupuncture, including electroacupuncture (EA), is used to treat obesity throughout the world. The effect of EA is evaluated mainly by body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference (WC). Few studies have assessed its effect in reducing VAT volume and hepatic fat fraction (HFF) based on an exact measurement method such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). This study aimed to resolve this issue.
Methods:
Thirty subjects were randomly divided into two groups. The control group (n = 15) did not receive any intervention and maintained a normal diet and their usual exercise habits. The treatment group (n = 15) received EA three times a week for 3 months. BMI and WC were measured using different devices. VAT and HFF were measured by MRI and calculated by related software before and after the intervention.
Results:
A marked difference was evident in group that received EA treatment in the following tests. The differences in BMI (U = 21.00, p < 0.001), WC (U = 40.50, p = 0.002), VAT volume (U = 13.00, p < 0.001), and mean HFF (U = 0.00, p < 0.001) before and after the intervention in the treatment group were distinct and significant compared with those of the control group. Three months later, the treatment group showed a lower BMI (W = 91.00, p = 0.001), WC (t = 4.755, p < 0.001), VAT volume (t = 5.164, p < 0.001), and mean HFF (W = 120.00, p = 0.001) compared with pretreatment levels. Compared with the control group, the treatment group showed a lower VAT volume (t = 60.00, p = 0.029) after 3 months of treatment. After 3 months, the control group showed higher mean HFF (t = −2.900, p = 0.012) and VAT volume (W = 11.50, p = 0.006) compared with their initial levels.
Conclusion:
Based on MRI evaluation, this randomized controlled study proved that EA treatment reduces BMI and WC as well as VAT volume and HFF in women with abdominal obesity.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
WHO, Global Health Observatory data. Online document at: www.who.int/gho/ncd/risk_factors/overweight_text/en/, accessed May16, 2015.
2.
NiGH, ZhangJ, ZhengFT. Status and trends of Chinese obesity epidemic. Food Nutr China, 2013; 19:70–74.
3.
KishidaK, FunahashiT, MatsuzawaY, et al.Visceral adiposity as a target for the management of the metabolic syndrome. Ann Med, 2012; 4:233–241.
4.
LafontanM, BerlanM. Do regional differences in adipocyte biology provide new pathophysiological insights?. Trends Pharmacol Sci, 2003; 24:276–283.
5.
Font-BurgadaJ, SunB, KarinM. Obesity and cancer: The oil that feeds the flame. Cell Metab, 2016; 23:48–62.
6.
SteenA, HaanHH. Endometrial and ovarian tumours and their association with obesity. Ned Tijdschr Geneeskd, 2008; 152:1933–1936.
7.
BrittonKA, MassaroJM, MurabitoJM, et al.Body fat distribution incident cardiovascular disease, cancer, and all-cause mortality. J Am Coll Cardiol, 2013; 62:921–925.
8.
MiyazakiY, DeFronzoRA. Visceral fat dominant distribution in male type 2 diabetic patients is closely related to hepatic insulin resistance, irrespective of body type. Cardiovasc Diabetol, 2009; 8:44.
9.
MoriY, HoshinoK, YokotaK, et al.Differences in the pathology of the metabolic syndrome with or without visceral fat accumulation: A study in pre-diabetic Japanese middle-aged men. Endocrine, 2006; 29:149–153.
10.
GastaldelliA, CusiK, PettitiM, et al.Relationship between hepatic/visceral fat and hepatic insulin resistance in nondiabetic and type 2 diabetic subjects. Gastroenterology, 2007; 133:496–506.
11.
KotronenA, Yki-JarvinenH, SevastianovaK, et al.Comparison of the relative contributions of intra-abdominal and liver fat to components of the metabolic syndrome. Obesity, 2011; 19:23–28.
12.
JakobsenMU, BerentzenT, SorensenTI, et al.Abdominal obesity and fatty liver. Epidemiol Rev, 2007; 29:77–87.
13.
SogabeM, OkahisaT, HibinoS, et al.Usefulness of differentiating metabolic syndrome into visceral fat type and subcutaneous fat type using ultrasonography in Japanese males. J Gastroenterol, 2012; 47:293–299.
14.
LoreanaSS, PaulaAM, Bárbara deMMA, et al.Intra-abdominal fat is related to metabolic syndrome and non-alcoholic fat liver disease in obese youth. BMC Pediatrics, 2013; 13:115.
15.
Qing dynasty, FuS. Fu Qingzhu Nvke. Beijing, People's Republic of China: People's Medical Publishing House, 2006:37–38.
16.
ZhengSH, LiXL. Visceral adiposity index as a predictor of clinical severity and therapeutic outcome of PCOS. Gynecol Endocrinol, 2016; 32:177–183.
17.
HartzAJ, BarboriakPN, WongA, et al.The association of obesity with infertility and related menstrual abnormalities in women. Int J Obes, 1979; 3:57–73.
18.
GaoZS, ZhiY, SongZX, et al.Comparative effectiveness of electro-acupuncture plus lifestyle modification treatment for patients with simple obesity and overweight: Study protocol for a randomized controlled trial. Trials, 2015; 16:525.
19.
DarbandiM, DarbandiS, OwjiAA, et al.Auricular or body acupuncture: Which one is more effective in reducing abdominal fat mass in Iranian men with obesity: A randomized clinical trial. J Diabetes Metab Disord, 2014; 13:92.
20.
HsuCH, HwangKC, ChaoCL, et al.Electro-acupuncture in obese women: A randomized, controlled pilot study. J Womens Health, 2005; 14:434–440.
21.
ZhangLL, ChuQ, WangS, et al.Is sham acupuncture as effective as traditional Chinese acupuncture? It's too early to say. Chin J Integr Med, 2016; 22:483–489.
22.
KwonS. Association between abdominal obesity and cardiovascular risk factors in normal-weight Korean women. Health Care Women Int, 2009; 30:447–452.
YoshikawaK, ShimadaM, KuritaN, et al.Visceral fat area is superior to body mass index as a predictive factor for risk with laparoscopy-assisted gastrectomy for gastric cancer. Surg Endosc, 2011; 25:3825–3830.
25.
RyotaroB, TakatoT, MomokoA, et al.High visceral fat with low subcutaneous fat accumulation as a determinant of atherosclerosis in patients with type 2 diabetes. Cardiovasc Diabetol, 2015; 14:136.
26.
HwangYC, FujimotoWY, HayashiT, et al.Increased visceral adipose tissue is an independent predictor for future development of atherogenic dyslipidemia. J Clin Endocrinol Metab, 2016; 101:678–685.
27.
MachannJ, ThamerC, SchnoedtB, et al.Standardized assessment of whole body adipose tissue topography by MRI. J Magn Reson Imaging, 2005; 21:455–462.
28.
ReederSB, PinedaAR, WenZ, et al.Iterative decomposition of water and fat with echo asymmetry and least-squares estimation (IDEAL): Application with fast spin-echo imaging. Magn Reson Med, 2005; 54:636–644.
29.
ShenW, PunyanitaM, WangZM, et al.Visceral adipose tissue: Relationships between single slice areas and total volume. Am J Clin Nutr, 2004; 80:271–278.
30.
RehmJ.L, WolfgramPM, HernandoD, et al.Proton density fat-fraction is an accurate biomarker of hepatic steatosis in adolescent girls and young women. Eur Radiol, 2015; 25:2921–2930.
31.
InoueS, ZimmetP, CatersonI, et al.The Asia-Pacific perspective: Redefining obesity and its treatment. International Association for the Study of Obesity and the International Obesity Taskforce. Manila, Philippines: World Health Organization Western Pacific Region, 2000:19.
32.
LiXH, ZhuJ, ZhangXM, et al.Abdominal MRI at 3.0 T: LAVA-Flex compared with conventional fat suppression T1-weighted images. J Magn Reson Imaging, 2014; 40:58–66.
33.
RanXW, LiXS, TongNW, et al.[Body fat distribution: Its characteristics and relationship to cardiovascular risk factors in obese Chinese.]. Sichuan Da Xue Xue Bao Yi Xue Ban, 2004; 35:700–703.
34.
LiuH, SergeyT, Aaron SB, et al.Quadratic regression analysis for gene discovery and pattern recognition for non-cyclic short time-course microarray experiments. BMC Bioinformatics, 2005; 6:106.
35.
PoorolajalJ, JenabiE. The association between body mass index and preeclampsia: A meta-analysis. J Matern Fetal Neonatal Med, 2016; 29:3670–3676.
36.
JohamAE, NanayakkaraN, RanasinhaS, et al.Obesity, polycystic ovary syndrome and breastfeeding: An observational study. Acta Obstet Gynecol Scand, 2016; 95:458–466.
37.
ZhangH, PengY, LiuZ, et al.Effects of acupuncture therapy on abdominal fat and hepatic fat content in obese children: A magnetic resonance imaging and proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy study. J Altern Complement Med, 2011; 17:413–420.
38.
TuQ, XiongF, ZhangDY, et al.[Value of MRI measurement of abdominal fat in the acupuncture weight loss.]. Journal Press of China Medical Devices, 2010; 25:144–146.
39.
DolfingJG, StassenCM, van HaardPM, et al.Comparison of MRI-assessed body fat content between lean women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS)and matched controls: Less visceral fat with PCOS. Hum Reprod, 2011; 26:1495–1500.
40.
ZhuAH, CuiB, YaoD, et al.The correlation of abdominal fat distribution and diabetes mellitus. J China Clin Med Imaging, 2012; 23:849–852.
41.
ValsamakisG, JonesA, ChettyR, et al.MRI total sagittal abdominal diameter as a predictor of metabolic syndrome compared to visceral fat at L4–L5 level. Curr Med Res Opin, 2008; 24:1853–1860.
42.
BrowningLM, MugridgeO, ChatfieldMD, et al.Validity of a new abdominal bioelectrical impedance device to measure abdominal and visceral fat: Comparison with MRI. Obesity (Silver Spring), 2010; 18:2385–2391.
43.
ShenW, PunyanityaM, WangZ, et al.Total body skeletal muscle and adipose tissue volumes: Estimation from a single abdominal cross-sectional image. J Appl Physiol, 2004; 97:2333–2338.
44.
BrownRE, KukJL, LeeS, et al.Measurement site influences abdominal subcutaneous and visceral adipose tissue in obese adolescents before and after exercise. Pediatr Obes, 2015; 10:98–104.
