Objective

2

To explore the effect of electroacupuncture and fecal microflora transplantation after electroacupuncture on obesity， as well as the possible mechanism.

Methods

2

Eight out of 120 Wistar rats were randomly selected as the normal group， and the remaining rats were fed with high-fat diet to establish the obesity rat model. Forty out of the 78 successfully modeled rats were randomly divided into model group， electroacupuncture （EA） group， sham EA group （acupuncture inserted not on the channels or the acupoints）， fecal microbiota transplantation （FMT） group and model control group， with eight rats in each group. The rats in the normal group and the model group received no interventions. The rats in the EA group received EA inserted on “Zhongwan” （RN 12）， “Guanyuan” （RN 4）， bilateral “Zusanli” （ST 36）， and bilateral “Fenglong” （ST 40）， while those in sham EA group were administered with shallow needles on the points， 5 mm away from the acupoints used in EA group and with no electricity， both for 10 minutes each time， three times a week for eight weeks. In addition， five rats were randomly selected from the remaining 38 successfully modeled rats as the fecal microbiota collection group. The five rats were given the same 8-week intervention with the EA group for an additional three weeks， and the fresh feces were collected after the weekly last treatment to prepare the spare fecal mibrobiota liquid. Rats in model control group and FMT group were given 2 ml normal saline and 2 ml fecal mibrobiota liquid from the fecal microbiota collection group by enema， respectively， at eight weeks after modelling， once weekly for three weeks； simultaneously， both groups continued to be fed with high-fat diet. The changes of body weight and Lee's index were assessed， and the abundance， diversity and metabolic function of intestinal flora were analyzed after eight-week intervention in the normal group， model group， EA group and sham EA group. The same outcomes were assessed in the model control group and FMP group at three weeks after enema.

Results

2

Compared to those in the normal group， the body weight and Lee's index in the model group increased； the abundance of Enterobacteriaceae， Roche and Prevotella decreased， while the abundance of Lactobacillus and Enterococcus increased； the intestinal COG function was reduced in terms of general function prediction， amino acid transport and metabolism， cell repair， energy conversion and lipid metabolism （

P

＜0.05 or

P

＜0.01）. Compared to those in the model group， the body weight and Lee's index decreased； the abundance of Bacteroides and Roche increased， while the abundance of Lactobacillus and Enterococcus decreased， and the intestinal COG function in terms of general function prediction， amino acid transport and metabolism， energy conversion and lipid metabolism increased in the EA group （

P

＜0.05 or

P

＜0.01）. There were no significantly statistical differences between model group and sham EA group in body weight， Lee's index， and the abundance of varied bacteria genus （

P

＞0.05）. Compared to those in the model control group， the Lee's index of rats in FMT group was reduced； the abundance of Lactobacillus enterica and Brucella increased， while the abundance of Bacteroides， Rhombus sp. and Collins were reduced； the intestinal COG function in carbohydrate transport and metabolism， amino acid transport and metabolism， energy conversion， and lipid metabolism increased， while membrane formation and intracellular transport function decreased （

P

＜0.05 or

P

＜0.01）.

Conclusion

2

EA can lower the body weight of obesity rats， which may be related to the increase of intestinal dominant bacteria， thereby improving the function of intestinal flora in energy conversion and lipid metabolism. Moreover， fecal microbiota enema after EA helps maintain the benigh effect of EA.