Fixation and Operational Method for Abdominal Massage in T2DM Mice

Summary

This study introduces an abdominal massage device for mice that replicates manual massage while minimizing stress and tissue damage. The device significantly lowers blood glucose levels, improves lipid metabolism, and enhances insulin sensitivity in type 2 diabetes mice, offering a promising, non-invasive therapeutic approach with clinical potential.

Abstract

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a rapidly growing global public health issue, affecting over 500 million people worldwide. Although abdominal massage has shown potential benefits in managing T2DM, its effectiveness remains unclear, particularly in animal studies, where challenges such as animal compliance and the need for precise pressure control complicate implementation. To address these challenges, this study introduces a novel abdominal massage simulation device specifically designed for mice. This device provides a practical solution for conducting abdominal massage interventions in a controlled manner while minimizing stress and tissue damage to the animals. It securely restrains the mice's limbs, allowing them to remain conscious during the massage, and offers precise control over both the pressure and frequency of the massage applied to the abdomen. The device's ability to simulate manual abdominal massage with accuracy opens new possibilities for experimental studies assessing its effects on T2DM. The primary goal of this protocol is to investigate the impact of abdominal massage on key T2DM markers such as blood glucose levels, lipid metabolism, and insulin sensitivity in mice. By providing a reliable and reproducible method for abdominal massage, this device can offer valuable insights into its potential as a non-invasive therapeutic intervention for T2DM. The findings from this research may contribute to advancing clinical strategies for diabetes prevention and treatment, particularly in enhancing the understanding of traditional therapies like abdominal massage in modern medical practice.

Introduction

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a chronic disease characterized by insulin resistance and dysfunction of pancreatic β-cells. It is a nationwide public health issue, with a rapidly increasing incidence worldwide¹. According to the Global Metabolic Disease Burden Report, more than 500 million people globally have diabetes, with over 90% of them having T2DM². Abdominal massage is an important intervention for treating T2DM. A large body of research has shown that abdominal massage can significantly improve blood glucose levels, quality of life, gut microbiota composition, and its metabolic products in T2DM patients,....

Protocol

All animal experiments were approved by the Animal Care and Use Committee of Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine (Approval No: 202409A033). Here, 24 SPF-grade healthy male C57BL/6J mice, aged 8 weeks and weighing 22 g ± 2 g, were selected. The mice were housed under a 12 h light/dark cycle at a temperature of 20-22 °C and with a relative humidity of 45%- 50%. The animals had free access to food and water.

1. Establishment of the T2DM mouse model

1. Feed mice standard chow for 1 week to adapt to the new environment in the animal facility. After 1 week, randomly divide the 24 C57BL/6J mice divided into t....

Discussion

Abdominal massage is a representative fundamental technique in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) massage, widely applied in clinical prevention and treatment of various system diseases, especially in regulating and caring for the spleen and stomach digestive system^13,14,15. Abdominal massage directly affects the surface of the human body, covering most of the abdominal acupuncture points, including Zhongwan (CV12), Liangmen (ST.......

Materials

Name	Company	Catalog Number	Comments
High-density lipoprotein cholesterol assay kit	A112-1-1	Nanjing Jiancheng Bioengineering Institute
Low-density lipoprotein cholesterol assay kit	A113-1-1	Nanjing Jiancheng Bioengineering Institute
Metformin tablets		Sino-US Shanghai Squibb Pharmaceutical Co
Pressure Thin Film Sensors	FSR16	Vickers Electronic Technology (Luoyang) Co.
Retainer sleeve		No special requirement，Preferably, the material should be PP.
Strips of cloth for fixing		1mm thick, unfolded to a trapezoidal shape with an upper base of 8cm, a lower base of 10cm and two waists of 10cm.
Total cholesterol assay kit	A111-1-1	Nanjing Jiancheng Bioengineering Institute
Triglyceride assay kit	A110-1-1	Nanjing Jiancheng Bioengineering Institute