Combined acupuncture and herb treatment improves intestinal flora inabdominally obese subjects based on 16s rRNA sequencing: a randomized controlled trial.

Combined needle-herb treatment modulated 25 key gut flora across multiple taxonomic levels in abdominal obesity. It reduced <i>Firmicutes</i> and <i>Bacteroidota</i>. <i>Bacteroidota</i>, <i>Actinobacteriota</i>, and <i>Prevo-tellaceae</i> may suppress obesity, whereas <i>Proteobacteria, Lachnospiraceae</i>, and <i>Megamonas</i> may promote it. The combination specifically altered <i>Bacteroidaceae, Lachno-spiraceae, Bacteroidia</i>, and <i>Megamonas</i>.