Objective: To explore the underlying mechanism of acupuncture of acupoints of the Foot-Yangming Meridian in preventing the gastro-mucosa from injury in the rabbit with gastric ulcer. Methods: 24 New Zealand rabbits were evenly randomized into control

model and acupuncture groups. Gastric ulcer model was established by intragastric perfusion of absolute ethyl alcohol (2.5 mL/kg). “Neiting”(ST 44)

“Jiexi”(ST 41)

“Zusanli”(ST 36)

“Liangqiu”(ST 34)

“Tianshu”(ST 25) and “Liangmen”(ST 21) were punctured once daily

30 min/time

and continuously for 7 days. Somatostatin (SS) contents in the gastric mucosal tissue were assayed with radioimmunoassay technique. SS receptor(R) 1 mRNA expression was detected with reverse transcription (RT)-polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique. Results: Gastro-mucosal SS contents of control

model and acupuncture groups were 1852.4±361.7 mIU/mL

2978.6±587.6 mIU/mL and 1800.2± 488.1 mIU/mL respectively; and the optical density integral values of SSR 1/cyclophilin in the 3 groups were 1.04±0.36

2.56±0.25 and 1.07±0.08 separately

showing that in gastric ulcer rabbits

gastro-mucosal SS level and SSR 1 mRNA expression increased significantly in comparison with those of normal control group (P<0.01) and after acupuncture

SS level was lowered and SSR 1 mRNA expression was downregulated significantly (P<0.01). Conclusion: Acupuncture of acupoints of the Foot-Yangming Meridian can significantly reduce the production of SS and suppress the expression of SSR 1 mRNA in experimental gastric ulcer rabbits.