Copyright
©The Author(s) 2025. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastrointest Surg. Dec 27, 2025; 17(12): 112063
Published online Dec 27, 2025. doi: 10.4240/wjgs.v17.i12.112063
Published online Dec 27, 2025. doi: 10.4240/wjgs.v17.i12.112063
Efficacy of acupoint catgut embedding therapy for phlegm-turbidity and blood-stasis metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease
Qiu-Hong Hu, Wen Liu, Mei-Long Shen, Department of Hepatology, Taizhou Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Taizhou 225300, Jiangsu Province, China
Hong-Qin Yin, Yun-Fei Wang, Wen-Kui Zhang, Department of Acupuncture, Taizhou Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Taizhou 225300, Jiangsu Province, China
Co-first authors: Qiu-Hong Hu and Wen Liu.
Author contributions: Shen ML designed research; Hu QH and Liu W performed research; Yin HQ, Wang YF and Zhang WK contributed new reagents or analytic tools; Shen ML, Hu QH and Liu W analyzed data; Shen ML wrote the paper. Hu QH and Liu W contributed equally to this work as co-first authors.
Supported by Taizhou City Social Development Guidance Plan Project, No. TS02012.
Institutional review board statement: This study was approved by the Ethic Committee of Taizhou Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine.
Informed consent statement: All study participants, or their legal guardian, provided informed written consent prior to study enrollment.
Conflict-of-interest statement: There is no conflict of interest.
Data sharing statement: No additional data are available.
Open Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Mei-Long Shen, PhD, Chief Physician, Department of Hepatology, Taizhou Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, No. 86 Jiqu East Road, Hailing District, Taizhou 225300, Jiangsu Province, China. shenml9326@126.com
Received: August 26, 2025
Revised: October 8, 2025
Accepted: October 31, 2025
Published online: December 27, 2025
Processing time: 120 Days and 17.9 Hours
Revised: October 8, 2025
Accepted: October 31, 2025
Published online: December 27, 2025
Processing time: 120 Days and 17.9 Hours
Core Tip
Core Tip: This study included 80 patients with metabolic dysfunction–associated fatty liver disease with phlegm-turbidity and blood-stasis syndrome (MAFLD-PTBS). Multiple diagnostic indicators were evaluated, and the results revealed significant clinical efficacy of acupoint catgut embedding in this population. The therapeutic effects were closely associated with serum concentrations of platelet-derived growth factor, transforming growth factor-β1, and cytokeratin 18. These results suggest that acupoint catgut embedding may serve as a valuable therapeutic option and provide relevant guidance for managing MAFLD-PTBS.