Effects of acupoint therapy on nonalcoholic fatty liver disease: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Background: and purpose: Acupoint therapy is suggested as a potential intervention for treating nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). This review assessed current evidence for the effect of acupoint therapy on NAFLD. Methods: Eight electronic databases were searched to identify randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of patients with NAFLD treated by acupoint therapy from their inception to August 2020. A meta-analysis of outcomes was conducted by RevMan 5.3. Results: Sixteen RCTs with 1320 patients were included. Acupoint therapy was significantly associated with improvements in alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) levels. Additionally, acupoint therapy significantly reduced triglyceride (TG), total cholesterol (TC) and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) levels. High-density lipoprotein (HDL) levels were also increased in NAFLD patients. Conclusion: Compared with other treatments, acupoint therapy may improve liver function and lipid metabolism, making it an available treatment for NAFLD. However, these findings need to be confirmed in large-scale, rigorously designed RCTs.