Objective To study the underlining mechanism of electroacupuncture(EA) in regulating leukocyte counts in the rabbit.Methods A total of 75 rabbits were randomly divided into normal control

leukocytosis model

leukocytosis+EA

leukopenia model

leukopenia+EA groups

with 15 cases in each.EA(2-20 Hz

1-2 mA) was applied to "Dazhui"(DU 14)

bilateral "Zusanli"(ST 36) and bilateral "Geshu"(BL 17) for 20 min

once daily for 5 days.Leukocytosis and leukopenia models were duplicated by intravenous injection of coliform(0.1 ml/kg) and cyclophosphamide(30 mg/kg) separately.Peripheral blood leukocyte counts were detected every day.At the end of the experiment

the rabbit's spleen tissue was collected under anesthesia

and the diameter of splenic sinusoid basal lamina eyehole was measured under scanning electronic microscope.Results Compared with normal control group

after i.v.coliform and cyclophosphamide

leukocytes increased and decreased significantly and respectively

while the area of the splenic sinusoid basal lamina eyehole in leukocytosis model group increased lightly and that of leukopenia model group reduced obviously(P<0.01).In comparison with their individual model group

the leukocyte count in leukocytosis+EA group decreased considerably(P<0.05)

while that of leukopenia+EA group increased markedly(P<0.01).The area of splenic sinusoid basal lamina eyehole in leukocytosis+EA group decreased apparently(P<0.05)

and that in leukopenia+EA group increased remarkably(P<0.05).Conclusion EA is able to regulate the leukocyte counts in coliform-induced leukocytosis and cyclophosphamide-induced leukopenia rabbits

which may be related with its effects in improving the splenic sinusoid basal lamina eyehole activity.