Acupuncture in treating obesity combined with type 2 diabetes mellitus: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled clinical trials.

Background: and purpose: Most type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients are accompanied by overweight or obesity, and it is difficult to concurrently solve these two issues with conventional treatment regimens without experiencing adverse effects. While clinical practice demonstrates that acupuncture is beneficial in treating obesity combined with T2DM, there is a lack of evidence-based medicine to support this claim. The study aims to systematically evaluate the efficacy and safety of acupuncture in treating obesity combined with T2DM.

Methods: By searching eight electronic databases, we collected randomized controlled trials on acupuncture in treating obesity combined with T2DM. Two reviewers independently screened the literature, extracted the data, and assessed the risk of bias in the included studies. Meta-analysis was then performed using RevMan 5.4 software.

Results: A total of 13 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) involving 993 patients were eventually included. Meta-analysis results demonstrated the effective rate of clinical symptoms: [RR = 1.19, 95% CI: 1.11, 1.28, P < 0.00001]; body mass index: [MD = -2.11, 95% CI: -2.56, -1.66, P < 0.00001]; fasting plasma glucose: [MD = -1.09, 95% CI: -1.60, -0.59, P < 0.00001]; haemoglobin A1c: [MD = -0.58, 95% CI: -0.95, -0.20, P = 0.002]; triglyceride: [MD = -0.29, 95% CI: -0.46, -0.11, P = 0.001]; waist circumference: [MD = -5.36, 95% CI: -8.68, -2.05, P = 0.002]; body fat rate: [MD = -3.59, 95% CI: -4.28, -2.90, P < 0.00001].

Conclusion: Current evidence suggests that acupuncture has advantages in treating obesity combined with T2DM. However, due to low-quality evidence of included research, additional large-sample and high-quality research are required to validate the findings of this study.