Acupuncture for the treatment of leptin resistance in obesity: A protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: Recently, there has been a global increase in obesity and obesity-related diseases. The prevention and treatment of obesity have become one of the most significant public health challenges worldwide in the 21st century, and how to effectively curb the occurrence of obesity has become a major global concern. Numerous studies have shown that the majority of obese individuals do not respond to leptin, and instead demonstrate leptin resistance. Clinical studies have found that acupuncture is widely used in the clinical treatment of obesity in recent years, but whether it can improve leptin resistance has not been systematically reviewed. This study is aimed to investigate the effectiveness of acupuncture in obesity with leptin resistance (LR). METHODS: We searched PubMed, Cochrane Library, Embase, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Wan Fang, Technology Journal Database (VIP), and China Biology Medicine disc (CBM). Chinese Clinical Trial Registry. The time was from the establishment of the database to March 19, 2021. RevMan 5.3 software was used to assess the quality and risk of the included studies. RESULTS: This study will be conducted in terms of clinical efficacy, serum leptin content, and body weight change. The current evidence shows that the incidence of the disease is high and the comprehensive quality is high. CONCLUSION: The conclusion of this review will provide a basis for judging whether acupuncture therapy is effective in the treatment of leptin resistance in obesity.