Acupuncture, a Promising Therapy for Insulin Resistance and Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease

Figures

• 

  Figure 1. The potential mechanisms of acupuncture treatment in IR and NAFLD. (A) Acupuncture stimulation upregulated the protein expression of hypothalamic SIRT1 and suppressed the acetylation level of FOXO1 (ac-FOXO1) in the hypothalamic arcuate nucleus, which decreased gene expression of NPY and increased that of pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC). These molecular changes led to anorexia and weight loss, improved fasting blood glucose (FBG), fasting insulin (FINS) and homeostasis model assessment for insulin resistance (HOMA-IR). (B) In skeletal muscle and ovary granule cells (OGCs), acupuncture upregulated the expression of insulin receptor, GLUT4, and Akt, resulted in an increase of glycogen synthesis and improvement of FBG, FINS, and HOMA-IR. (C) In hepatocyte, acupuncture upregulates insulin receptor, IRS and Akt, resulting in an increase of de novo lipid synthesis (DNL), protein synthesis, glycogen synthesis and a decrease of gluconeogenesis, and finally improves FBG, FINS, 2-h postprandial blood glucose (2h-PBG), and HOMA-IR. (D) In small intestine, acupuncture administration downregulates the expression of apolipoprotein B (ApoB) and apolipoprotein C2 (ApoC2), and suppresses lipid…