Objective To observe the effect of electroacupuncture(EA) of "Weizhong"(BL 40)

"Sanyinjiao"(SP 6) and "Yinlingquan"(SP 9) on changes of intravesical pressure and contents of adenosine triphosphate(ATP) in the urinary bladder tissue in rabbits with acute urine retention

so as to explore the relatively specificity of acupoints for urinary bladder problems.Methods Forty-eight male adult rabbits were randomly divided into normal control

model

Weizhong(BL 40

EA-BL 40)

San-yinjiao(SP 6

EA-SP 6)

Yinlingquan(SP 9

EA-SP 9) and non-acupoint(EA-NA) groups.Acute urinary retention model was established by filling the rabbits' bladder with normal saline at a volume of 2 times above their normal capacity for 2 hours.EA(2 Hz/15 Hz

0.6 mA) was applied to bilateral "Weizhong"(BL 40)

"Sanyinjiao"(SP 6) and "Yinlingquan"(SP 9) for 20 min

respectively.Intravesical pressure was detected by using a pressure transducer and an amplifier.Bladder ATP content was detected by using enzyme linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA).Results In comparison with pre-modeling

the intravesical pressure levels were decreased significantly after modeling in the model

EA-BL 40

EA-SP 6

EA-SP 9 and EA-NA groups(P<0.05).Compared with pre-EA

intravesical pressure values were increased remarkably in the EA-BL 40

EA-SP 6

EA-SP 9 and EA-NA groups(P<0.05).The percentages of the increased vesical pressure after EA were considerably higher in the EA-BL 40

EA-SP 6

EA-SP 9 and EA-NA groups than in the model group(P<0.05).Compared with the normal group

bladder ATP content in the model group was reduced significantly(P<0.05);while in comparison with the model group

ATP contents in the EA-BL 40

EA-SP 6 and EA-SP 9 groups were up-regulated apparently(P<0.05).The bladder ATP level of the EA-BL 40 group was significantly higher than those of EA-SP 6 and EA-SP 9 groups(P<0.05).No significant differences were found between the model and EA-NA groups

and between the EA-SP 6 and EA-SP 9 groups in bladder ATP contents(P>0.05)

and among the EA-BL 40

EA-SP 6 and EA-SP 9 groups in the percentages of the increased intravesical pressure(P>0.05).Conclusion EA of BL 40

SP 6 and SP 9 can significantly raise intravesical pressure and bladder ATP content in urine retention rabbits

which may contribute to its effect in improving urinary retention.