Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 5, 2026

An Acupoint Catgut-embedding Therapy for Treating Obesity
Published on: April 4, 2025
[Regularity of Acupoint Selection for Simple Obesity Treated by Acupoint Catgut Embedding Based on Complex Network
Xia Chen1, Wei Huang1, Feng Hu1
1Department of Acupuncture and Moxibustion, Hubei Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Wuhan 430061, China; Hubei Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Wuhan 430074.
Objective:
To analyze the core acupoints and acupoint combinations of catgut embedding for simple obesity based on the complex network technology.
Methods:
Articles about acupoint catgut embedding for simple obesity were collec-ted from databases of PubMed, CNKI, Wanfang and VIP from 1980 to 2016 by using keywords "simple obesity" "obesity" "acupoint embedding" "acupuncture" and "traditional Chinese medicine", followed by constructing a database of acupoint prescription. Acupoint node (one node means an acupoint) weighted complex network was constructed by using complex network technique, followed by conducting centrality analysis and clustering analysis about the nodes using Matlab 2014, a software for revealing the core acupoint node and compatibility relations. At last, theresults (complex network diagram) were displayed using software Gephi 0.9.1.
Results:
A total of 238 articles (all in Chinese) including 278 acupoints (of which 115 are meridian acupoints) were collected. The top 15 core acupoints are Tianshu (ST 25), Zusanli (ST 36), Zhongwan (CV 12), Fenglong (ST 40), San-yinjiao (SP 6), Quchi (LI 11), Yinlingquan (SP 9), Guanyuan (CV 4), Pishu (BL 20), Qihai (CV 6), Shenshu (BL 23), Shangjuxu (ST 37), Daheng (SP 15), Shuifen (CV 9), and Ganshu (BL 18), mainly distributing in the abdomen, lower limbs and back. Those acupoints with the highest core degree are attributed to the Stomach Meridian, Conception Vessel, Bladder Meri-dian, Spleen Meridian and Large Intestine Meridian. Regarding the compatibility of these acupoints, ST 25 and CV 12 have the highe-st correlation frequency, followed by ST 25 and ST 36, and ST 40 and ST 25, indicating the principle of different combinations being regional acupoints and meridian acupoints.
Conclusion:
In the treatment of simple obesity with catgut embedding, top 15 core acupoints as ST 25, ST 36, CV 12, ST 40, etc, and acupoint recipes as ST 25 and CV 12, ST 25 and ST 36, ST 40 and ST 25 are most frequently used in clinical practice.
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