Acupoint Therapy on Diabetes Mellitus and Its Common Chronic Complications: A Review of Its Mechanisms

Table 1

The function and effect of acupoint therapy on DM and its common chronic complications.

Disease	Experimental object	Different acupoints combination	Acupoint therapy	Function	Effect
Diabetes mellitus	T2DM rats	Yishu (EX-B3)	Electroacupuncture	1. Innervate the pancreas by neural segment; 2. Reduce hyperfunction of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis	1. Protect the islets; 2. Ameliorate endocrine dyscrasia
	T2DM rats	Zusanli (ST36), Shenshu (BL23)	Electroacupuncture	High-level expression of gene GLUT2 and GCK	Reduce insulin resistance
	T2DM rats	Quchi (LI11), Hegu (LI4), Zusanli (ST36), Xuehai (SP10), Fenglong (ST40), Yinlingquan (SP9), Diji (SP8), Sanyinjiao (SP6), Taichong (LR3)	Manual acupuncture	High-level expression of gene IRS-1, IRS-2, and GLUT4
	T2DM rats	Zusanli (ST36), Quchi (LI11)	Electroacupuncture	Low-level expression of PI3K-85p	Reduce insulin resistance
	Otsuka Long-Evans Tokushima Fatty (OLETF) rats	Zusanli (ST36), Shenshu (BL23), Neiguan (PC6), Sanyinjiao (SP6)	Electroacupuncture	1. High-level of IRS-1, IRS-2, Akt2, aPKC, and GLUT4; 2. Low-level of PI3K-p85	Reduce insulin resistance
	T2DM rats	Zusanli (ST36), Shenshu (BL23), Neiguan (PC6), Sanyinjiao (SP6)	Electroacupuncture	High-level expression of IRS-1, PI3K, Akt2, and eNOS	1. Reduce insulin resistance; 2. Ameliorate vascular endothelial dysfunction
Diabetic peripheral neuropathy (include diabetic gastroparesis)	DPN rats	Zusanli (ST36), Shenshu (BL23)	1. Electroacupuncture; 2. Acupoint injection of mecobalamin	High-level expression of nerve growth factor and its receptor TrkA	1. Promote the regeneration of nerves; 2. Repair of nerve injuries
	DPN rats	Pishu (BL20), Shenshu (BL23), Zusanli (ST36)	1. Catgut implantation at acupoint; 2. Take Chinese medicine	1. High-level expression of nerve growth factor; 2. Low-level expression of transforming growth factor-1
	Chinese DPN patients	Zusanli (ST36)	1. Acupoint injection of salvia injections; 2. Intravenous injection of lipoid acid	1. Low-level expression of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein; 2. Low content of malondialdehyde; 3. High-level expression of superoxide dismutase	Protect the structure of neurons
	Chinese DPN patients	Zusanli (ST36), Zhongwan (CV12), Mingmen (DU4)	1. Electroacupuncture; 2. Acupoint injection of mecobalamin	1. Low-level expression of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein; 2. Low-level expression of homocysteine
	DGP rats	Zusanli (ST36), Zhongwan (CV12)	Electroacupuncture	High-level expression of stem cell factors and neuronal nitric oxide synthase	Restore the ultrastructure and pacing function of interstitial cells of Cajal in the gastric antrum
	Chinese DGP patients	Zhongwan (CV12), Xiawan (RN10), Qihai (BL24), Guanyuan (BL26), Tianshu (ST25), Daheng (SP15), Huaroumen (ST24), and Wailing (ST26)	1. Abdominal acupuncture; 2. Acupoint injection of Vitamin	Enhance the secretion of motilin and gastrin	Regulate gastrointestinal functions and motility
	Chinese DGP patients	Zusanli (ST36)	Acupoint injection of mecobalamin
	DGP rats	Zusanli (ST36), Liangmen (ST21), and Sanyinjiao (SP6)	Electroacupuncture	1. Growth in endothelial nitric oxide synthase, insulin and its receptor in the gastric antrum; 2. Low content of AT II, insulin-like growth factor-1 and its receptor in the gastric antrum	1. Promote the restoration of Cajal interstitial cells; 2. Mediate hormones and nervous system
Diabetic cardiac autonomic neuropathy	DM rats	Feishu (BL13), Xinshu (BL15), Yishu (EX-B3), Pishu (BL20), Neiguan (PC6), Quchi (LI11), Zusanli (ST36), Sanyinjiao (SP6)	Electroacupuncture	1. Low-level expression of nerve growth factor; 2. High content of ChAT, CNTF, and GAP-43	1. Prohibit abnormal proliferation of neurons; 2. Restore the injuries of nervous
Diabetic foot	Chinese level 0 diabetic foot patients	Jiexi (ST41)	Acupoint injection of Vitamin B1	1. High content of 6-Keto-PGF1α; 2. Low content of thromboxane B2	1. Supply the nutrition of neurons; 2. Ameliorate the regionalmicrocirculation of foot
Diabetic anterior horn injury of spinal cord	DM rats	Zusanli (ST36), Yishu (EX-B3)	Electroacupuncture	1. High-level expression of gene Bcl-2; 2. Low-level expression of gene Bax	Prevent the apoptosis of neurons
Diabetic myopathy	DM rats	Yanglingquan (GB34) and Zusanli (ST36)	Electroacupuncture	1. Up-regulates IGF-1 signaling pathway; 2. High-level expression of gene myomiR; 3. Increase in phosphorylation level of factors concerning protein synthesis like AKT, FoxO1, mTOR, and p70S6; 4. Low-level expression of Pax7, MyoD, myogenin and MHC-emb	1. Promote the muscle regeneration; 2. Strengthen the muscular functions; 3. Attenuating the myopathy
Diabetic nephropathy	Chinese DN patients	Zusanli (ST36), Sanyinjiao (SP6), Fenglong (ST40), Yinlingquan (SP9), and Zhongshu (DU7)	Acupoint injection of Shuxuening (extract from gingko leaf that contains flavanoids, phenols, alkaloids, etc.)	Low-level expression of vascular endothelial growth factor	1. Ameliorate the expansion of extracellular matrix and mesangial matrix of kidney; 2. Ameliorate glomerular sclerosis
	DN rats	Shenshu (BL23), Huiyang (BL35), Guanyuan (BL26)	1. Catgut implantation at acupoint; 2. Take Chinese medicine	Low content of transforming growth factor-1 and insulin-like growth factor-1	1. Ameliorate the glucose metabolism and renal hemodynamics; 2. Correct high filtration and high perfusion status of kidney; 3. Reduce growth and differentiation of renal cells
	Chinese DN patients	Zhongwan (CV12), Quchi (LI11), Hegu (LI4), Xuehai (SP10), Zusanli (ST36), Yinlingquan (SP9)	Manual Acupuncture	1. Regulate gene IFNG, T cell receptor, hypoxia inducible factor-1, JAK-STAT signaling pathway, TGF-, etc.; 2. Low-level expression of MCP-1; 3. Enhance the activity of superoxide dismutase	1. Improve glomerular filtration and reduce urinary albumin excretion rate; 2. Modulate the amount and activity of T cell subset and restore lymphocyte injury; 3. Improve the level of anti-oxidative stress
Diabetic hepatopathy	DM rats	Yishu (EX-B3)	Electroacupuncture	1. High-level expression of gene and protein of glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor; 2. Low content of alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase	Protect liver cells