Objective To explore the underlying mechanism of scalp-acupuncture therapy in the treatment of acute cerebral ischemia(ACI) in the rat.Methods A total of 140 SD female rats were randomly assigned to sham-operation(n=20)

model(n=60)

scalp-acupuncture(SA

n=60) groups

and the later two groups were further divided into 24 h

48 h and 72 h subgroups separately

with 20 cases in each.Among them

70 rats were used for cerebral tissue section

and the other 70 cases for homogenating cerebral tissue.ACI model was established by occlusion of the middle cerebral artery(MCAO) for 1 h and reperfusion.EA(2/100 Hz

2 mA) was applied to bilateral "Dingnie Houxiexian"(MS 7) and "Dingnie Qianxiexian"(MS 6) for 20 min

once daily for 1 d

2 d and 3 d respectively.The rat's neurological severity score(NSS) was assessed before and after EA.Blood and brain tissue were sampled for detecting TNF-α and IL-1β contents respectively with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.Haematoxylin-eosine(H&E) staining method was used for displaying the inflammatory cells in the ischemic brain tissue.Results(1) After ACI

NSS at each time-point increased significantly

while compared with model group

NSS of SA group decreased apparently 72 h after ACI(P<0.01).Compared with the corresponding time-points of sham-operation group

the number of inflammatory cells

plasma and cerebral TNF-α and IL-1β contents at 24 h

48 h and 72 h in model group increased considerably(P<0.01

0.05).In comparison with the corresponding time-points of model group

the number of inflammatory cells at 48 h and 72 h

plasma and cerebral TNF-α and IL-1β contents at 72 h in SA group declined significantly(P<0.01).Conclusion Scalp-acupuncture can relieve inflammatory cell infiltration

and reduce plasma and cerebral TNF-α and IL-1β contents in ACI rats

which may contribute to its effect in promoting neurofunctional recovery.