[Effect of electroacupuncture on Leptin in energy-regulated signaling of obese rats with insulin resistance].

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: To observe the effect of electroacupuncture (EA) on Leptin and Leptin receptor (OB-Rb) of insulin resistant obese (OIR) rats, so as to explore its possible mechanism for obesity. METHODS: Twenty-four Wistar rats were randomly divided into normal, model and EA groups, with 8 rats in each group. The OIR model was established by feeding the rats with high-fat diet for 8 weeks. EA (2 Hz, 1 mA) was applied to "Zhongwan" (CV12), "Guanyuan" (CV4), "Zusanli" (ST36) and "Fenglong" (ST40) for 30 min, once every other day for 8 weeks. At the 6th week of intervention, glucose contents of intraperitoneal glucose tolerance test (IPGTT) and intraperitoneal insulin tolerance test (IPITT) were measured. After 8 weeks' intervention, the body weight and food intake were recorded. Serum total cholesterol (TC) and total triglyceride (TG) were assayed by using an automatic biochemical analyzer. The expression levels of Leptin and OB-Rb proteins in the small intestine and hypothalamus were detected by Western blot. RESULTS: Following modeling, the body weight, food intake, IPGTT, IPITT, the contents of serum TC and TG, and the expressions of Leptin protein in small intestine and hypothalamus were significantly up-regulated (P<0.01, P<0.05), and the expressions of OB-Rb protein in small intestine and hypothalamus were significantly down-regulated (P<0.05) in the model group compared with the normal group. After EA treatment, all the indexes mentioned above were completely reversed in the EA group relevant to the model group (P<0.05, P<0.01). CONCLUSION: EA can improve insulin resis-tance by up-regulating the OB-Rb protein expression and enhancing the binding force of Leptin and OB-Rb.