ABSTRACT
Electroacupuncture (EA) has been shown to exert beneficial effects on obesity, but the mechanism is unclear. This study investigated the effects of EA on diet-induced obese (DIO) rats. Fifty male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into low-fat diet (LFD, 10 rats) and high-fat diet (HFD, 40 rats) groups. After the DIO models had been established, successful model rats were randomly divided into HFD, EA, and orlistat (OLST) groups. The EA group received EA at Zusanli (ST36) and Quchi (LI11) for 20 minutes once per day for 28 days. The OLST group was treated with orlistat by gavage. The body weight, homeostasis model assessment-insulin resistance index, adipocyte diameters, and neuroprotein Y/agouti-related protein and protein tyrosine phosphatase 1B levels were significantly lower in the EA group than in the HFD group. The rats of the OLST group showed watery stools and yellow hairs whereas those of the EA group had regular stools and sleek coats. The effect of EA on weight loss may be related to improved insulin resistance caused by changes in the adipocyte size and by reductions in the expressions of neuroprotein Y/agouti-related protein and protein tyrosine phosphatase 1B. This study indicates that EA may be a better method of alternative therapy for treating obesity and other metabolic diseases.
Subject(s)
Agouti-Related Protein/metabolism , Electroacupuncture , Insulin Resistance , Neuropeptide Y/metabolism , Obesity/therapy , Protein Tyrosine Phosphatase, Non-Receptor Type 1/genetics , Agouti-Related Protein/genetics , Animals , Blood Glucose/metabolism , Diet, High-Fat/adverse effects , Female , Humans , Insulin/metabolism , Male , Neuropeptide Y/genetics , Obesity/enzymology , Obesity/genetics , Obesity/metabolism , Protein Tyrosine Phosphatase, Non-Receptor Type 1/metabolism , Rats , Rats, Sprague-DawleyABSTRACT
Being abandoned for farmland seriously affected China's grain output for farmlands. It has become an important phenomenon over the past 20 years in China. Multispectral remote sensing has the advantage of wide range and high speed in requiring data. It has great potential in the research on land use. Therefore, to extract abandoned farmland in China, the authors' used the NDVI data of Modis/Terra from 2000 to 2009 which is one of multispectral remote sensing data and the Remote Sensing Image of ALOS satellite in Japan. The authors' used the parameter of NDVI of time series to describe the character of the main land use types. After drawing the time-series curves of the main land use type samples, the authors' analyzed them with consulting the life character of these types. Then, the authors' compared these curves; finally we recognized abandoned farmland from the others. At last the authors' went to experimental plot to survey the land use. The results demonstrated that the method of using multispectral remote sensing data can abstract abandoned farmland and classify the main kind of land use, and the accuracy is as high as 90%. So the method is feasible in recognizing abandoned farmland.
