Acupuncture as an Adjunct to Lifestyle Interventions for Weight Loss in Simple Obesity: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Objective: This study aims to evaluate the efficacy of acupuncture as an adjunct to lifestyle interventions on weight loss in simple obesity.

Methods: Potentially eligible studies that assessed anthropometric outcomes as well as glucose and lipid metabolism following acupuncture combined with lifestyle interventions in simple obesity patients were searched from eight databases from inception to October 2023. All analyses were performed using the Review Manager software v5.4 and Stata software v17.0.

Results: Herein, 25 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) involving 2018 patients were included. Generally, acupuncture combined with lifestyle interventions outperformed lifestyle interventions alone in terms of body weight (MD = -4.73, 95% CI [-6.32, -3.13], < 0.00001), body mass index (BMI) (MD = -2.11, 95% CI [-2.75, -1.48], < 0.00001), waist circumference (WC) (MD = -4.96, 95% CI [-6.89, -3.03], < 0.00001), body fat percentage (BF %) (MD = -2.61, 95% CI [-4,51, -0.71], = 0.007), fasting plasma glucose (FPG) (SMD = -0.66, 95% CI [-1.02, -0.31], = 0.0002), fasting serum insulin (FINS) (SMD = -1.12, 95% CI [-1.44, -0.81], < 0.00001), homeostasis model assessment-insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) (MD = -1.22, 95% CI [-1.50, -0.94], < 0.00001), total cholesterol (TC) (SMD = -1.14, 95% CI [-1.83, -0.45], = 0.001), triglyceride (TG) (SMD = -1.31, 95% CI [-2.07, -0.56], = 0.0006), and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) (SMD = -1.81, 95% CI [-3.11, -0.51], = 0.006). Subgroup analysis based on three subgroup variables (types of acupuncture and lifestyle interventions as well as treatment durations) could partially explain the heterogeneity of the results.

Conclusion: Acupuncture demonstrated an enhancing effect on the benefits of lifestyle interventions for weight loss in patients with simple obesity, including reducing body weight and improving glucose and lipid metabolism. This finding suggests its potential value as a complementary therapy alongside lifestyle interventions in a clinical setting. However, further validation with rigorously designed and high-quality RCTs is still needed in the future.