Table 2.

Treatment outcomes of patients in the SA and EA group

	Sham acupuncture (SA) n = 27	Electro-acupuncture (EA) n = 30	p value
Primary Endpoint
Relative liver fat reduction from baseline in MRI-PDFF %, [medium (p25, p75)]
Week 12	− 15.8 (− 36.1, − 2.7)	− 33.6 (− 52.9, − 22.7)	0.022*
Week 16	− 13.2 (− 35.0, − 3.2)	− 38.4 (− 55.3, − 16.6)	0.026*
Secondary endpoints
Patients with a ≥ 30% relative decline in MRI-PDFF%, n (%)
Week 12	7/27 (25.9%)	16/30 (53.3%)	0.035*
Week 16	11/27 (40.7%)	18/30 (60.0%)	0.146
Liver stiffness by MRE, kPa [medium (p25, p75)]
Week 12	0.2 (− 0.2, 0.6)	− 0.1 (− 0.5, 0.3)	0.156
Week 16	0.2 (− 0.2, 0.5)	− 0.1 (− 0.4, 0.4)	0.201
BMI, kg/m2 [medium (p25, p75)]
Week 12	− 0.6 (− 1.4, 0.3)	− 1.3 (− 3.0, − 0.3)	0.024*
Week 16	− 0.2 (− 1.2, 0.3)	− 1.5 (− 2.4, − 0.3)	0.013*
Body weight, kg [medium (p25, p75)]
Week 12	− 1.3 (− 4.7, 0.5)	− 3.0 (− 6.4, − 0.5)	0.185
Week 16	0.1 (− 2.9, 0.9)	− 3.0 (− 6.0, − 0.8)	0.034*
WHR, % [medium (p25, p75)]
Week 12	− 0.7 (− 5.8, 2.3)	− 2.3 (− 4.7, 1.0)	0.260
Week 16	− 0.3 (− 4.0, 1.8)	− 0.8 (− 4.3, 2.8)	0.528
Biochemical varieties, Week 12 [medium (p25, p75)]
ALT, U/L	− 34.0 (-49.0, − 10.0)	− 52.5 (− 76.0, − 20.0)	0.114
AST, U/L	− 16.2 (− 24.3, − 6.4)	− 27.4 (− 45.1, − 15.0)	0.015*
GGT, U/L	− 15.0 (− 26.0, − 7.0)	− 13.0 (− 28.0, − 5.0)	0.749
ALP, U/L	0.0 (− 11.0, 6.0)	− 0.5 (− 5.0, 12.0)	0.667
CHO, mmol/L	0.0 (− 0.7, 0.6)	− 0.3 (− 1.0, 0.2)	0.228
TG, mmol/L	− 0.3 (− 0.9, 0.2)	− 0.5 (− 0.9, 0.1)	0.306
LDL, mmol/L	− 0.1 (− 0.5, 0.3)	− 0.1 (− 0.4, 0.3)	0.848
FBG, mmol/L	− 0.3 (− 0.4, 0.2)	− 0.3 (− 0.8, 0.0)	0.139
HbA1c%	0.0 (− 0.3, 0.1)	− 0.2 (− 0.3, 0.0)	0.161
HOMA-IR	− 1.6 (− 3.9, 0.4)	− 2.2 (− 5.7, − 0.7)	0.164