Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) has become a major health concern worldwide. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect and mechanism of electroacupuncture (EA) on nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in rats induced by high-fat diet (HFD). A model of nonalcoholic fatty liver in rats induced by high fat was established. Rats in the control group were fed standard diet. The rats in model group and EA group were fed with HFD. From the fifth week, the rats in EA group were treated with EA (“FengLongXue,” “YinLingQuanXue,” “SanYinJiaoXue”) for 2 weeks respectively. EA could significantly reduce serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), serum triglyceride (TG), serum cholesterol (TC), and serum cytokines, and improve liver histopathological changes in rats. EA also could regulate the levels of Sirt1/NF-κB pathway in rat liver. EA relieved liver injury in NAFLD rats, and its mechanism may be related to the regulation of Sirt1/NF-κB pathway in rats. This is the first report that electroacupuncture alleviates liver inflammatory reaction of nonalcoholic fatty liver by enhancing Sirt1 expression and inhibiting NLRP3/NF-kB signal pathway.

非酒精性脂肪性肝病 (NAFLD) 已成为全球主要的健康问题。本研究旨在探讨电针（EA）对高脂饮食（HFD）诱导的大鼠非酒精性脂肪肝（NAFLD）的影响及机制。建立高脂致大鼠非酒精性脂肪肝模型。对照组大鼠饲喂标准饲料。模型组和电针组大鼠喂食HFD。从第5周开始，电针组大鼠分别给予电针（“风龙血”、“引灵泉血”、“三阴交血”）2周。电针可显着降低大鼠血清丙氨酸氨基转移酶（ALT）、天冬氨酸氨基转移酶（AST）、血清甘油三酯（TG）、血清胆固醇（TC）和血清细胞因子，改善大鼠肝脏组织病理学改变。EA还可以调节大鼠肝脏中Sirt1/NF-κB通路的水平。EA减轻NAFLD大鼠肝损伤，其机制可能与调节大鼠Sirt1/NF-κB通路有关。这是首例电针通过增强Sirt1表达、抑制NLRP3/NF-kB信号通路来缓解非酒精性脂肪肝肝脏炎症反应的报道。