Objective To observe the effect of electroacupuncture(EA) of "Baihui"(GV 20) and left "Hegu"(LI 4)-"Taichong"(LR 3) on levels of hippocampal IL-1β content and I kappa B kinase(IKK) β protein in focal cerebral ischemia/reperfusion(CI/R) injury rats so as to reveal its mechanism underlying improvement of cerebral ischemia.Methods One hundred and ninety-eight male SD rats were randomly divided into sham group(n=54)

model group(n=72) and EA group(n=72) which were further randomized into 12 h

24 h and 48 h subgroups according to the duration of CI/R.The focal CI/R injury model was established by middle cerebral artery occlusion(MCAO) and reperfusion.EA(1 mA

2 Hz/100 Hz) was applied to "Baihui"(GV 20) and the left "Hegu"(LI 4)-"Taichong"(LR 3) for 20 min

once every 12 h.The level of IL-1β content in the right hippocampus tissue was detected by ELISA and the expression levels of hippocampal IKKβ protein were detected by immunohistoche-mistry and Western blot

respectively.Results Compared with the 3 subgroups of the sham group

the levels of hippocampal IL-1β contents at time-points of 12 h

24 h and 48 h after MCAO were significantly increased in the model group(P<0.01).In comparison with the model group

the contents of hippocampal IL-1β at the 3 corresponding time-points in the EA group were significantly reduced(P<0.01).The expression levels of hippocampal IKKβ protein at the 3 time-points after MCAO shown by immunohistochemistry and Western blot analysis were significantly higher in the model group than in the sham group(P<0.05)

and considerably lower in the EA group than in the model group(P<0.05).Conclusion EA of GV 20 and LI 4-LR 3 can obviously reduce CI/R injury induced increase of IL-1β content and IKKβ expression level in the hippocampus

which may be responsible for its effect in alleviating cerebral infarction by reducing inflammatory injury in the hippocampus.