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.