Objectives: To explore the effect of acupuncture on cerebral infarction in rats and to try providing some experimental parameters for clinical practice. Methods: 27 healthy Wistar rats were randomly divided into pseudo operation (n=10), model (n=8) and acupuncture (n=9) groups. Neuro functional defect scoring, apoptosis of single brain slice and the number of bcl 2 immuno reaction (IR) positive neurons in CA1 area of the hippocampus were used as the indexes to investigate the possible mechanisms of acupuncture of "Nie San Zhen" (needling three acupoints in the temporal region) and "Si Shen Zhen" (needling four acupoints in the occiput region) in treating rats with cerebral infarction. Results: There existed significant differences between acupuncture group and model group in improving neurologic functional activities, inhibiting apoptosis of the brain cells and increasing bcl 2 IR positive neurons in the hippocampal CA1 area ( P <0.01). Conclusion: Acupuncture therapy can improve cerebral infarction in the rat by suppressing apoptosis and up regulation of the bcl 2 IR positive neuron expression.
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