Objective:To study the effect of electroacupuncture (EA) of "Dazhui" (GV 14) and "Baihui" (GV 20) on brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) expression in brain tissues of cerebral ischemia rats for analyzing the mechanism of acupuncture in preventing the ischemic cerebral neurons from injury. Methods: Local cerebral ischemia model was established by occlusion of the middle cerebral artery (MACo) of the rat. 24 Wistar rats were randomly and evenly divided into sham-operation group

cerebral ischemia group and EA+ischemia group. "Dazhui" (GV 14) and "Baihui" (GV 20) were punctured and stimulated electrically by setting the stimulating parameters as frequency of 5～ 10 Hz

sparse-dense waves

strength of 35 V and duration of 30 min. EA was given once again following 5-hours'cerebral ischemia. The rats' brain tissues were cut into sections (6 μm thick) that were stained with immunochistochemical method. Results: In sham-operation group

the number of positive BDNF-immunoreaction cells was smaller and the reaction density was lighter. In cerebral ischemia group

BDNF expression neurons increased remarkably in quantity in comparison with sham-operation group. In cerebral ischemia + EA group

BDNF expression cells increased considerably in quantity and in density compared with control group and cerebral ischemia group (P<0.01). That means EA has a protective action on ischemia cerebral injury. Conclusion: EA can potentiate BDNF expression in ischemic cerebral tissues

which maybe contribute to the effect of acupuncture in relieving ischemic injury of the cerebral neurons.