In this study

TUNEL staining was used to observe the effect of electro-acupuncture(EA) on apoptotic neuronal death induced by focal cerebral ischemia in rats. The results were as follows: In the sham-operated group and the EA treated group

TUNEL positive stained cell was not detected in the brain. In the ischemic group

a large number of apoptotic neuronal cells were detected in the infarcted area of cerebral cortex at 12h postischemia. In the ischemia + EA treated group

the number of apoptotic neuronal cells in the infarcted area reduced significantly. The results suggest that EA inhibits apoptotic neuronal death induced by focal cerebral ischemia.