Objective To investigate the autonomic nervous mechanism of acupuncture therapy in the treatment of ischemic cardiomyopathy by observing the influence of electroacupuncture(EA) at "Neiguan"(PC6) on the superior cervical cardiac nerve activity and cardiac function in chronic myocardial ischemia(CMI) rats. Methods Male SD rats were randomly divided into control

model and EA groups(n=8 in each group). The CMI model was established by ligating the anterior descending branch of the left coronary artery. EA(15 Hz

1.5 mA) was applied to bilateral PC6 for 20 min

once a day for 28 consecutive days. Cardiac sympathetic nerve electrical activities(CSNEA)

electrocardiogram(ECG) of the standard limb lead Ⅱ and ultrasonic cardiogram(UCG) were recorded for observing changes of ST segment height

left ventricular ejection fraction(LVEF) and left ventricular fractional shortening(LVFS). Results The CSNEA was significantly increased(P<0.001)

and the hight of ECG-STⅡ

LVEF and LVFS were considerably decreased in the model group relevant to the control group(P<0.01

P<0.001)

while after the intervention

modeling induced increase of CSNEA and decrease of ECG-STⅡ

LVEF and LVFS were obviously suppressed in the EA group in comparison with the model group(P<0.01

P<0.05

P<0.001). Conclusion EA of PC6 can improve cardiac function and myocardial ischemia in CMI rats

which is possibly related to its effect in decreasing cardiac sympathetic hyperactivity.