Baihui electroacupuncture in the induction of brain ischemic tolerance by preconditioning

    LAO Ning, XIONG Liª²Ze, LU Zhiª²Hong, LIU Yanª²Hong, ZHENG Yu, GONG Gu

    Department of Anesthesiology, Xijing Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi¬ðan 710033, China

    ¡¾Abstract¡¿ AIM: To investigate the acupoint specificity of brain ischemic tolerance induced by preconditioning with repeated electroacupuncture at ¡°Baihui¡± acupoint in rats with transient focal cerebral ischemia. METHODS: 40 SD male rats were randomly divided into 4 groups (n=10 each): Animals in control group received no pretreatment, animals in PB group were intraperitoneally injected with pentobarbital sodium 40 mg/kg a day for 5 days, animals in EA1 group received electroacupuncture at the ¡°Baihui¡± acupiont 30 min a day for 5 days under pentobarbital sodium anesthesia and animals in EA2 group received electroacupuncture at the point 1.0 cm right from "Baihui" acupoint 30 min a day for 5 days under pentobarbital sodium anesthesia. 24h after the last treatment, the right middle cerebral artery occlusion model (MCAO) was induced for 120 min in all animals. The neurological deficit scores (NDS) were evaluated at 24h after reperfusion and then rats were sacrificed under deep anesthesia. The brain was cut into 6 2 mm-thick coronal sections and infarct volumes were determined by TTC staining. RESULTS: ¢Ù EA1 group showed lower NDS than that in control and PB groups (P<0.05). There was no significant difference of NDS among the other groups. ¢Ú The infarct volume of EA1 group was smaller than that in any other groups (P<0.01). The infarct volume of EA2 group was smaller compared with that in control or PB groups (P<0.01). No significant difference was observed between control and PB groups (P>0.05). CONCLUSION: The ischemic tolerance induced by preconditioning with repeated electroacupuncture at preconditioning in rats with focal cerebral ischemia has acupoint specificity. ......