Effects of acupuncture on serum metabolic parameters in premenopausal obese women: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

Abstract

BackgroundComplex metabolic changes cause obesity, making weight loss difficult. For this reason, understanding metabolism is important, and considering the shortcomings of conventional treatment options for obesity, acupuncture is a possible option. However, evidence supporting its efficacy on metabolic parameters in obese patients is lacking. The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of acupuncture on serum metabolic parameters in premenopausal obese women.Methods/designThis ongoing study is a randomized, patient-assessor blind, two-arm parallel non-penetrating sham-controlled clinical trial. Eligible participants, premenopausal adult women (19 years of age or older) with a clinical diagnosis of obesity (body mass index of 25 kg/m2 or more) blinded to the treatment received, will be randomly allocated blindly into the real acupuncture treatment group (manual acupuncture plus electroacupuncture, n = 60) or the sham acupuncture control group (sham acupuncture plus placebo acupuncture without electrical stimulation, n = 60) and receive treatment two times a week for a total of 12 sessions over 6 weeks. The primary outcome measure is the serum cholesterol and triglyceride (TG) levels at baseline and endpoint. The secondary outcomes are body weight, body fat mass, muscle mass, waist and hip circumference, other serum metabolic profiles, International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ), Social Readjustment Rating Scale (SRRS), Stress Response Inventory (SRI), Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS), the Korean version of the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), and urine metabolites. Adverse events will be assessed at every visit.DiscussionThe results of this trial (which will be available in 2015) will provide important clinical evidence for the effect of acupuncture on serum metabolites and demonstrate how acupuncture can be helpful for the treatment of obesity.Trial registrationTrial registration registered via US National Institutes of Health Clinical Trials registry (ClinicalTrials.gov) on 11 November 2014, identifier: NCT02066090.

Acupuncture Improves Intestinal Absorption of Iron in Iron-deficient Obese Patients

“…Although results vary because of differences in study methods, participants, or acupuncture treatment protocols, most studies suggested that acupuncture-based weight loss is indeed effective. [ 30 31 32 33 34 ] Our results concur with those of the previous studies showing that acupuncture can reduce the BW, BMI, WC, and WHR of obese patients,[ 30 31 32 33 34 ] thus supporting the assertion that acupuncture has an anti-obesity effect, especially for abdominal or visceral obesity. Several recent studies have reported improvements in iron status in response to weight loss from restrictive bariatric surgery in adults[ 35 ] or exercise-based long-term weight loss intervention in children.…”

Effects of acupuncture on anthropometric and serum metabolic parameters in premenopausal overweight and obese women: a randomized, patient- and assessor-blind, sham-controlled clinical trial

“…This study was prospectively registered at ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT02066090) on 19 February 2014 and was performed in accordance with the trial protocol, which received approval from the institutional review board of the Korean Medicine Hospital of Kyung Hee University at Gangdong (KHNMCOH 2013-01-020) and has been published elsewhere. 22 This study adheres to the CONSORT guidelines for the reporting of clinical trials and the CONSORT checklist for this study is presented in the Supplementary Material.…”

Mechanisms of Acupuncture Therapy for Simple Obesity: An Evidence-Based Review of Clinical and Animal Studies on Simple Obesity

“…A recent analysis showed that acupuncture modulated the secretion of multiple serum lipids in obese patients. Acupuncture downregulated the level of serum triglyceride (TG), total cholesterol l(TC), and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol(LDL-C) and upregulated the level of serum high-density lipoprotein cholesterol(HDL-C), which could contribute to the removal of excess blood lipid[39]. All the obese subjects were asked to receive a total of 10–12 acupuncture sessions for 6 weeks; each acupuncture session lasted for 30 min.…”