The study of electroacupuncture on cerebral blood flow in rats with and without cerebral ischemia

Electroacupuncture (EA) is widely used to treat disorders of the nervous system, such as stroke. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of EA on cerebral blood flow (CBF) in cerebral ischemic rats. We developed an animal model of cerebral ischemia (CI) by occluding the blood flow of both common carotid arteries in Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats; 2 or 15 Hz EA was applied to both Zusanli acupoints. The levels of nitric oxide (NO) in the peripheral blood and amounts of calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) in the cerebral cortex and thalamus were measured. In addition, L-N (G)-nitro arginine methyl ester (L-NAME) was used to measure the changes in CBF induced by EA in rats with and without CI. The results indicated that both 2 and 15 Hz EA increase the mean CBF in rats with and without CI. However, neither 2 nor 15 Hz EA induced changes in levels of NO in peripheral blood or changes in CGRP levels in cerebral cortex and thalamus. In addition, L-NAME did not change the increase in CBF. We concluded that both 2 and 15 Hz EA at both Zusanli acupoints induced the increase of CBF in rats with and without CI. Whether the effect of EA is related to NO or CGRP will be investigated in a future study.