HN-01550088_The effects of acupuncture on glutathione system in overweight and obese individuals

Introduction: Obesity is the fifth leading cause of death in the world. It causes oxidative stress through a variety of mechanisms, and in turn oxidative stress leads to problems such as cancer, metabolic syndrome, diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases. Among several treatment methods for obesity, acupuncture is also a popular complementary treatment widely used. In this study, we investigated the effect of acupuncture on the glutathione system, as the most abundant intracellular antioxidant, in obese and overweight patients.Methods: This study conducted on 40 randomly selected obese or overweight cases (BMI ≥24.9). Subjects received authentic acupuncture (cases) or sham acupuncture (controls) for 6 weeks in combination with a low-calorie diet. Before and after treatment the activity of glutathione peroxidase (GPX) and glutathione reductase (GR) enzymes, as well as the concentration of reduced glutathione (GSH) and oxidized glutathione (GSSG) were measured.Results: Data showed that after treatment Glutathione peroxidase activity is increased in both groups, this increase was significantly higher in the intervention group than the control group (P=0.005). Also, the concentration of reduced glutathione increased in each group and the rate of increase in the case group was significantly higher than control (P=0.02). The ratio of GSH/GSSG also increased in both groups, which was significantly higher in the intervention group than in the control group (P=0.02).Conclusion: Applying acupuncture in addition to standard obesity diet may increase the antioxidant activity in overweight subjects. It may also be effective in reducing oxidative damage by increasing the concentration of reduced glutathione and regulate the ratio of GSH/GSSG.