AUTHOR=Tang Qianqian , Lu Mengjiang , Xu Bin , Wang Yaling , Lu Shengfeng , Yu Zhi , Jing Xinyue , Yuan Jinhong 

TITLE=Electroacupuncture Regulates Inguinal White Adipose Tissue Browning by Promoting Sirtuin-1-Dependent PPARγ Deacetylation and Mitochondrial Biogenesis

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Endocrinology

VOLUME=11

YEAR=2021

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/endocrinology/articles/10.3389/fendo.2020.607113

DOI=10.3389/fendo.2020.607113

ISSN=1664-2392

ABSTRACT=<sec><title>Background</title><p>Previous studies had suggested that electroacupuncture (EA) can promote white adipose tissue (WAT) browning to counter obesity. But the mechanism was still not very clear.</p></sec><sec><title>Aim</title><p>In this study, we aim to study the effect of EA on promoting inguinal WAT (iWAT) browning and its possible mechanism.</p></sec><sec><title>Method</title><p>Three-week-old rats were randomly divided into a normal diet (ND) group and a high-fat diet (HFD) group. After 10 weeks, the HFD rats were grouped into HFD + EA group and HFD control group. Rats in the EA group were electro-acupunctured for 4 weeks on Tianshu (ST25) acupoint under gas anesthesia with isoflurane, while the rats in HFD group were under gas anesthesia only. Body weight and cumulative food intake were monitored, and H&amp;E staining was performed to assess adipocyte area. The effect of EA on WAT was assessed by qPCR, immunoblotting, immunoprecipitation and Co-immunoprecipitation. Mitochondria were isolated from IWAT to observe the expression of mitochondrial transcription factor A (TFAM).</p></sec><sec><title>Results</title><p>The body weight, WAT/body weight ratio and cumulative food consumption obviously decreased (P &lt; 0.05) in the EA group. The expressions of brown adipose tissue (BAT) markers were increased in the iWAT of EA rats. Nevertheless, the mRNA expressions of WAT genes were suppressed by 4-week EA treatment. Moreover, EA increased the protein expressions of SIRT-1, PPAR<italic>γ</italic>, PGC-1<italic>α</italic>, UCP1 and PRDM16 which trigger the molecular conversion of iWAT browning. The decrease of PPAR<italic>γ</italic> acetylation was also found in EA group, indicating EA could advance WAT-browning through SIRT-1 dependent PPAR<italic>γ</italic> deacetylation pathway. Besides, we found that EA could activate AMPK to further regulate PGC-1<italic>α</italic>-TFAM-UCP1 pathway to induce mitochondrial biogenesis.</p></sec><sec><title>Conclusion</title><p>In conclusion, EA can remodel WAT to BAT through inducing SIRT-1 dependent PPAR<italic>γ</italic> deacetylation, and regulating PGC-1<italic>α</italic>-TFAM-UCP1 pathway to induce mitochondrial biogenesis. This may be one of the mechanisms by which EA affects weight loss.</p></sec>