In the present paper

the authors review the current development of studies on mechanisms of acupuncture treatment of acute ischemic cerebral apoplexy from 1) blood rheology

2) cerebral microcirculation

3) metabolism of cerebral tissue

4) cerebral electrical activity

5) free radicals and lipid peroxidation reaction

6) excitatory aminoacid

7) calcium overload

8) nitrogen monoxidum

and 9) cerebral apoptosis.Cerebral stroke includes ischemic stroke and hemorrhagic stroke.Ischemic cerebral stroke accounted for about 60%-70% of all the stroke cases.At present

the main remedies for treating acute ischemic cerebral stroke includes thrombolysis

anti-platelet aggregation

improving microcirculation and symptomatic therapy. In recent years

there are many experimental and clinical reports available about acupuncture treatment of acute ischemic cerebral stroke

highlighting the efficacy of acupuncture therapy in the treatment of stroke.