Clinical and Bile Acid Metabolism Study of Ultrasound-Guided Catgut Embedding at the Muscle Layer in the Treatment of Abdominal Simple Obesity

Introduction: This study investigated the clinical efficacy of embedding an ultrasound- guided muscle-layer acupoint thread for treating abdominal simple obesity and explored its potential mechanism by regulating bile acid metabolism. Methods: 20 healthy volunteers and 20 patients with abdominal obesity were divided into a control and an acupoint-embedding group. The embedding group received ultrasound-guided sheep intestinal thread implantation at Zhongwan, Shuifen, Qihai, Tianshu (bilateral), Daheng (bilateral), Daimai (bilateral), and Shuidao (bilateral) acupoints, with biweekly administrations for 6 sessions. Abdominal obesity indices, blood glucose/lipid levels, and bile acid metabolites (analyzed via GC/MS) were compared pre- and post-treatment. Results: Post-treatment, the embedding group showed reduced BMI, waist/hip circumference, LAP, VAI, SAT, and VAT. Key bile acids—HDCA, TDCA, TCDCA, GCDCA, GDCA, and GDCA- 3S—were significantly altered. Discussion: The findings suggest that acupoint embedding improves abdominal obesity by modulating glycolipid metabolism and bile acid levels, particularly secondary bile acids and their conjugates. Conclusion: Ultrasound-guided acupoint embedding alleviates abdominal obesity in patients with spleen deficiency-dampness obstruction, potentially through bile acid metabolic regulation. Chinese Clinical Trial Registration Number: ChiCTR2100046312.