Electroacupuncture for functional dyspepsia and the influence on serum Ghrelin,CGRP and GLP-1 levels

Objective

To observe the clinical efficacy of electroacupuncture for functional dyspepsia (FD), and explore the corresponding mechanism.

Methods

Sixty-four FD patients were randomly divided into electroacupuncture group and western medicine group, with 32 cases in each group. In electroacupuncture group, electroacupuncture at Zúsānl? (足三里ST 36), Sānyīnjiāo (三阴交SP 6), Gōngsūn (公孙SP 4) and Nèiguān (内关PC 6) was performed for once a day, and the needles were retained for 30?min. In western medicine group, oral administration of mosapride citrate dispersible tablets in a dosage of 5?mg/time was carried out for 3 times a day. Treatment was conducted for 30 consecutive days in both groups. The scores of Leeds dyspepsia questionnaire (LDQ) and functional digestive disorder quality of life (FDDQL) of patients in both groups were recorded before and after treatment. Serum Ghrelin, CGRP and GLP-1 levels of patients were tested before and after treatment respectively, and the clinical efficacy of patients in both groups was evaluated after treatment.

Results

In western medicine group, LDQ score after treatment was lower than that before treatment (P?<?0.05), FDDQL score after treatment was higher than that before treatment, while the differences were not statistically significant (P?>?0.05). LDQ score in electroacupuncture group after treatment was lower than that before treatment (P?<?0.05), and also lower than that in western medicine group at the same time point (P?<?0.05). FDDQL score in electroacupuncture group after treatment was higher than that before treatment (P?<?0.05), and also higher than that in western medicine group at the same time point (P?<?0.05). In western medicine group, Ghrelin level after treatment was higher than that before treatment (P?<?0.05), CGRP level reduced, and the differences were not statistically significant (P?>?0.05). GLP-1 level after treatment was also higher than that before treatment (P?<?0.05). In electroacupuncture group, Ghrelin level after treatment was higher than that before treatment, CGRP level reduced, and GLP-1 level after treatment was also higher than that before treatment (both P?<?0.05). According to the comparison of values of each index between electroacupuncture group and western medicine group after treatment, the differences were all statistically significant (all P?<?0.05). The total effective rate in electroacupuncture group was 90.63% (29/32) which was higher than that in western medicine group 68.75%(22/32), and the differences were statistically significant (P?<?0.05).

Conclusion

Electroacupuncture at ST 36, SP 6, SP 4 and PC 6 can effectively improve the clinical symptoms of FD patients, and the mechanism might be related with the increase of serum Ghrelin and GLP-1 levels and the decrease of serum CGRP level.