Objective To study the efficacy of combined application of deproteinised calf serum injection(DCSI) and acupuncture in treating cerebral ischemia(CI) in rats.Methods Ninety Wistar rats were randomly divided into control

CI model

Acupunct(acupuncture)

DCSI

Acupunct+DCSI groups

with 18 cases in each group.CI model was duplicated by middle cerebral artery occlusion(MCAO).DCSI(80 mg/kg) was given via the rat's tail vein

once daily for 7 days.Acupuncture was applied to "Baihui"(GV 20)

"Shuigou"(GV 26)

"Neiguan"(PC 6)

"Hegu"(LI 4)

"Taichong"(LR 3) and "Zusanli"(ST 36)

once daily for 7 days.The neurological deficit score(NDS)

cerebral infarct volume(CIV)

water and lactic acid(LA) contents in cerebral tissues were measured.Results In comparison with control group

NDS

CIV

cerebral water content and LA in model group increased significantly(P<0.05);while compared with model group

NDS

CIV

cerebral water content and LA in Acupunct

DCSI and Acupunct+DCSI groups decreased significantly(P<0.05).Comparison among DCSI group

Acupunct group and DCSI+Acupunct group showed that NDS

CIV

cerebral water and LA contents of Acupunct+DCSI group were significantly lower than those of the former two groups(P<0.05).No significant differences were found between DCSI and Acupunct groups in the above-mentioned 4 indexes(P>0.05).Conclusion Combined application of DCSI and acupuncture has a definite effect in improving cerebral ischemia and is superior to that of simple acupuncture or DCSI alone.