The Effects of Warm Acupuncture on the Expression of AMPK in High-Fat Diet-Induced MAFLD Rats

Autor: Yumi Lee, Donghee Choi, Junghye Park, Jae Gwan Kim, Taejin Choi, Daehwan Youn
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2024
Předmět:
Zdroj: Current Issues in Molecular Biology, Vol 46, Iss 10, Pp 11580-11592 (2024)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 46100687
1467-3045
1467-3037
DOI: 10.3390/cimb46100687
Popis: This study investigated the effects of acupuncture and warm acupuncture on the expression and mechanism of the AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) signalling pathway associated with lipid accumulation in the liver tissue of rats with metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) induced by a high-fat diet. Sprague–Dawley rats were categorised into four groups: control (CON), untreated MAFLD (MAFLD), and two MAFLD groups treated with acupuncture (ACU) and warm acupuncture (WA). The treatment groups underwent 16 application sessions over 8 weeks at the SP9 and BL18 acupoints. We measured the expression levels of AMPK, sterol regulatory element-binding protein1 (SREBP1), acetyl-coenzyme A carboxylase (ACC), peroxisome proliferator-activated receptorα (PPARα), carnitine palmitoyltransferase1 (CPT1), and CPT2. AMPK was activated in both ACU and WA groups. WA downregulated both SREBP1 and ACC expression at the protein level, whereas the acupuncture treatment downregulated SREBP1 expression. Additionally, WA selectively induced the activation of signalling pathways related to AMPK, PPARα, CPT1, and CPT2 at the mRNA level. Histological observations confirmed that fat accumulation was reduced in both the ACU and the WA groups compared to the MAFLD group. The WA treatment-promoted amelioration of HFD-induced MAFLD may be related to the activation of the AMPK/SREBP1/ACC pathway in the liver.
Databáze: Directory of Open Access Journals