Auricular or body acupuncture: which one is more effective in reducing abdominal fat mass in Iranian men with obesity: a randomized clinical trial

Mahsa Darbandi; Sara Darbandi; Ali Akbar Owji; Pooneh Mokarram; Majid Ghayor Mobarhan; Majid Fardaei; Baxiao Zhao; Hamid Abdi; Mohsen Nematy; Mohammad Safarian; Mohammad Reza Parizadeh; Mohammad Hossein Dabbaghmanesh; Parisa Abbasi; Gordon Ferns

doi:10.1186/s40200-014-0092-3

Auricular or body acupuncture: which one is more effective in reducing abdominal fat mass in Iranian men with obesity: a randomized clinical trial

J Diabetes Metab Disord. 2014 Dec 5;13(1):92. doi: 10.1186/s40200-014-0092-3. eCollection 2014.

Affiliations

¹ Department of Biochemistry, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
² Department of Biochemistry, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran ; Gastroenterohepatology Research Center, Department of Internal Medicine, Nemazee Hospital, Shiraz Medical School-Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
³ Cardiovascular Research Center, Avicenna (Bu-Ali) Research Institute, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.
⁴ Department of Genetics, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
⁵ School of Acupuncture-moxibustion and Tuina, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing, China.
⁶ Institute for Science & Technology in Medicine, Keele University, Hartshill, UK.
⁷ Cardiovascular Research Center, Avicenna (Bu-Ali) Research Institute, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran ; Biochemistry of Nutrition Research Center, Faculty of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.
⁸ Biochemistry of Nutrition Research Center, Faculty of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.
⁹ Endocrine Research Center, Department of Internal Medicine, Nemazee Hospital, Shiraz Medical School-Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.

Abstract

Background: The prevalence of abdominal obesity is on the rise worldwide. Previous studies have indicated the higher diagnostic value of body fat distribution pattern compared with general body in abdominal obesity assessments. Several non-pharmacological methods have been suggested for obesity management, of which acupuncture has gained a great deal of research interest with promising results. This study aimed to comparatively evaluate the effects of conventional auricular and body electroacupuncture on abdominal fat mass in obese men.

Methods: The volunteers were randomly divided into four groups, including 2 interventions and 2 controls. This study was conducted on 80 obese volunteer men with Body Mass Index (BMI) range of 30-40 kg/m2.The intervention groups including real body electroacupuncture (A), real auricular acupuncture (C) and the control groups containing sham body electroacupuncture (B), and sham auricular acupuncture (D). All groups were in combination with a low-calorie diet for 6 weeks. BMI, Trunk Fat Mass (TFM), Waist Circumference (WC), and Hip Circumference (HC) were measured pre- and post-intervention.

Results: In group A, respectively a significant reduction was shown in BMI (P < 0.005), TFM (P < 0.005), WC (P < 0.05, P < 0.005) and HC (P < 0.005) when compared with controls (Groups B and D). Interestingly, group C had significant decreases in BMI (P < 0.005), TFM (P < 0.01, P < 0.005), WC (P < 0.005) and HC (P < 0.001) after comparison with the sham. Likewise, WC (P < 0.05) and HC (P < 0.05) were significantly reduced post- intervention when compared with two treatment groups.

Conclusions: In our study, acupuncture treatment (body or auricular) seemed to have an effect on reducing BMI, TFM, WC and HC. Comparison of the two types of treatment (body and auricular acupuncture) suggests that the two types of acupuncture had similar effects on reducing BMI and TFM, but body electroacupuncture is more effective in reducing WC and auricular in HC. It seems that both auricular and body electro-acupuncture combined with a low-calorie diet are efficient, simple and painless methods to reduce respectively the HC and WC fat in obese men, compared with conventional techniques.

Trial registration: IRCT201201127117N2.

Keywords: Abdominal fat mass; Acupuncture; Hip circumference; Obesity; Waist circumference.