Objective To observe the effect of Zhuang-medical thread moxibustion combined with needle-pricking on vascular oxidative stress injury in oxidative stress injury rats.Methods Eighty Wistar rats were randomly allocated to normal control

sham operation(sham)

model

and combined treatment groups(n=20in each group).The oxidative stress injury model was established by ligation of the left sciatic nerve to induce chronic constriction injury(CCI)pain stress stimulation.Zhuangmedical thread moxibustion was applied to bilateral"Zusanli"(ST 36)

once a day for 3weeks.Needle-pricking was applied to left"Yanglingquan"(GB 34)and left"Huantiao"(GB 30)

once a day for 3weeks except Sundays.Plasma 6-keto-PGF 1α

thromboxane B 2(TXB 2)

NO and ET contents were assayed by radioimmunoassay.COX-2immunoactivity of the femoral artery was determined by immunohistochemistry

and pathological changes of the femoral artery were detected by H.E.staining.Results Compared with the control group

the levels of plasma 6-keto-PGF 1αand NO in the model group were significantly reduced(P<0.05)

while those of plasma TXB 2and ET and COX-2expression in the femoral artery were obviously increased in the model group(P<0.01).After moxibustion plus needle-pricking treatment

CCI-induced decrease of plasma 6-keto-PGF 1αand NO contents

and increase of plasma TXB 2and ET and COX-2expression levels were obviously reversed(P<0.05

P<0.01).The tubal wall of the femoral artery in rats of the model group got thicker

while that of the combined treatment group was relatively thinner

suggesting an inhibition of vascular intimal hyperplasia after the treatment.Conclusion Zhuang-medical thread moxibustion combined with needle-pricking of ST 36

GB 34 and GB 30 can reduce the expression of femoral artery COX-2and regulate the balance of both plasma PGI 2/TXA 2and plasma NO/ET in CCI-induced oxidative stress rats

which may contribute to its effect in suppressing oxidative stress-induced vascular intimal hyperplasia.