Objective: To observe the effects of acupoint-embedding(AE) of collagen plus Tetramethylpyrazine and electroacupuncture(EA) on the contents of TNF-α and IL-6 in hippocampus tissue in rats with focal cerebral ischemia-reperfusion(CI-R) injury.Methods: A total of 120 SD rats were randomly divided into normal control(n=8)

sham operation(n=24)

model(CI-R

n=24)

EA(n=24) and AE(n=24) groups

and the later 4 groups were further divided into 24 h

72 h and 120 h subgroups(time-points) separately

with 8 cases in each.CI-R model was established by middle cerebral artery occlusion(MCAO) and reperfusion.For animals of AE group

the medicinal thread consisting of collagen and Tetramethylpyrazine was implanted into "Dazhui"(GV 14) and bilateral "Neiguan"(PC 6)

once daily.For rats of EA group

EA(120 cycles/min

1 mA) was applied to GV14 and PC6 for 30 min

once daily.The contents of TNF-α and IL-6 in the hippocampus were detected by using radio-immunoassay after processing the tissue samples(homogenate

centrifuge).Results: The contents of TNF-α and IL-6 in hippocampus tissue of model group at 24 h

72 h and 120 h time-points were significantly higher than those of normal control and sham operation groups(P<0.05)

while after EA and AE

the contents of TNF-α at the 3 time-points decreased significantly(P<0.05)

and IL-6 contents at the same 3 time-points increased further and significantly(P<0.05).Comparison between EA and AE groups showed that the contents of TNF-α of the later group at 72 h and 120 h were significantly lower than those of EA group(P<0.05)

while IL-6 contents of AE group were significantly higher than those of EA group at the same time-points(P<0.05).Conclusion: Both EA and AE of collagen and Tetramethylpyrazine can evidently lower TNF-α content and significantly raise IL-6 level in hippocampus in rats with cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injury and the effect of AE is significantly superior to that of EA

which may contribute to their protective effects on ischemic cerebral neurons.