Objective To observe the effect of electroacupuncture（EA） at different acupoint combination on intestinal inflammatory response

intestinal flora structure and metabolic function in obese rats. Methods Ninety male Wistar rats aged 8 weeks were collected. Ten rats were randomly collected from 15 rats fed with regular forage in a normal group and the rest 75 rats were fed with high-fat forage to induce obesity models. Forty rats were modeled successfully and randomized into a model group

a lower-limb EA group

an abdomen EA group and a biaoben acupoints group

10 rats in each one. "Zusanli"（ST 36） and "Fenglong"（ST 40） were selected in the lower-limb EA group

"Zhongwan "（CV 12）

"Tianshu "（ST 25） and "Guanyuan"（CV 4） were selected in the abdomen EA group. The acupoint prescriptions in the above two groups were combined in the biaoben acupoints group. EA was delivered in all of the intervention groups

with continuous wave

2 Hz in frequency and 1 m A in current intensity. The intervention was administered three times weekly （on Monday

Wednesday and Friday）

for consecutive 8 weeks. Before intervention and on the last day of the 8 th week of intervention

the body weight and 24 h food intake were observed. After intervention

using Western blot method

the proteins expressions of interleukin 6（IL-6） and tumor necrosis factor α（TNF-α） were detected in the tissue of the small intestine; 16 S r RNA sequencing technology was adopted to detect the distribution structure and metabolic function of intestinal flora. Results Compared with the normal group

the body weight

the food intake and the proteins expressions of IL-6 and TNF-α in small intestine were all increased in the model group（P<0.01）. The above indexes of each EA intervention group were all decreased（P<0.01） when compared with the model group. The proteins expressions of IL-6 and TNF-α in the small intestine tissue of rats in biaoben acupoints group were lower than those in the other two EA intervention groups（P<0.01）. Compared with the normal group

the ratio of Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes was elevated（P<0.01）

while the abundance of Lactobacillus

Muribaculaceae and Bifidobacteria decreased in the model group（P<0.01）. When compared with the model group

the ratio of Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes in each EA intervention group was reduced（P<0.01） and the abundance of Lactobacillus

Bifidobacteria and Bacteroidetes increased（P<0.01）. Compared with the other two EA intervention groups

the abundance of Lactobacillus and Muribaculaceae was increased（P<0.01）

while the abundance of Collinsella and Ruminococcus Gauvreauii reduced（P<0.01） in the biaoben acupoints group. In the model group

the abundance of clusters of orthologous groups of proteins（COG） function of intestinal flora in the transportation and metabolism of carbohydrate

amino acid and lipid

as well as in the signal transduction mechanisms were reduced when compared with the normal group（P<0.01）. In comparison with the model group

the abundance of the above COG function was increased in each EA intervention group（P<0.01

P<0.05）. Conclusion Electroacupuncture at biaoben acupoint combination may attenuate intestinal inflammatory response and effectively improve the structure and function of intestinal flora. The effect is superior to the intervention at the acupoints on the lower limbs and those on the abdomen

better regulating the abundance of specific intestinal flora.