Effect of electro- acupuncture on hepatic Toll- like receptor 4 and nuclear factor κB expressions in rats with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease
CHEN Xiaolin
TANG Chenglin
XIE Hui
TANG Nianzhen
GAO Jie
LIU Renjian
Abstract：Objective To investigate the effect of electro-acupuncture on Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) nuclear factor κB (NF-κB) expressions in the liver of rats with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Methods SD rat models of NAFLD induced by feeding high-fat diet for 5 weeks were subjected to early or late intervention with electro-acupuncture at the acupoints Zusanli, Fenglong and Sanyinjiao for 20 min once daily for 21 consecutive days. The changes in serum ALT, AST, TC, and TG levels were determined in the rats and hepatic expressions of TLR4 and NF-κB detected with quantitative fluorescence PCR and Western blotting after treatments. Results Serum ALT, AST, TC, and TG levels and TLR4 and NF-κB levels increased significantly after NAFLD onset (P<0.05), and were markedly reduced by interventions with electro-acupuncture (P<0.05). Conclusion Electro-acupuncture at the acupoints Zusanli, Fenglong and Sanyinjiao can modify blood lipid and hepatic function to produce positive effect on NAFLD possibly by modifying lipid metabolism, lowering expressions of TLR4 and NF-κB in the liver, and reducing the impact of inflammation on NAFLD.
Keywords：non-alcoholic fatty liver diseaseelectro-acupunctureToll-like receptor 4nuclear factorκB
Publication Date：2014-01-01
Online Publishing Date：2025-08-15(First online date of this platform, not the publication date of the document)
Pages：5( 1584-1588 )