Objective: To investigate the underlying mechanism of electroacupuncture (EA) of "Shuigou" (GV 26) and "Baihui" (GV 20), "Ganshu" (BL 18) and "Shenshu" (BL 23) in resisting cerebral ischemia (CI).
Methods: Sixty male SD rats were randomly divided into pseudo-operation group, model group, GV26-GV20 group, and BL18-BL23 group, with 15 cases in each. CI model was established by middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO). EA (2/30 Hz,2 mA) was applied to GV26, GV20, BL18 and BL23 for 30 min every time and for 6 times. Neuroethologic scores of the rats were evaluated, plasma and cerebral endothelin (ET) and calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) contents were determined by radioimmunorassay.
Results: 1) After MCAO for 72 hours, the rats' neuroethologic score, plasma and cerebral ET contents in model group increased significantly in comparison with those of pseudo-operation group (P<0.05, 0.01), and plasma and cerebral CGRP levels decreased considerably (P<0.01). Compared with model group, the neuroethologic scores, cerebral ET contents of GV26-GV20 and BL18-BL23 groups decreased significantly after CI (P<0.01); and plasma and cerebral CGRP levels in two EA groups increased significantly (P<0.05, 0.01). No significant differences were found between two EA groups in these 3 indexes (P>0.05).
Conclusion: EA of GV26-GV20 and BL18-BL23 can improve CI rats' behavior activity, which may be related to its effects in lowering cerebral ET and raising blood and cerebral CGRP levels.