Effects of electroacupuncture on acute cerebral infarction

The present paper is to study the effects of electroacupuncture (EA) on acute ischemic stroke patient and acute cerebral ischemic rat. In clinic, 42 acute ischemic stroke patients were randomly divided into 2 therapeutic groups: drug group and EA+ drug group. Neurological deficits of patients were evaluated before and after the treatment by Chinese Stroke Scale. The results showed that the acute ischemic stroke patients treated by drug or EA+ drug were all partially recovered, but the clinical functional recovery in EA+ drug group was significantly better than in the drug group (P < 0.01). In laboratory, the model of reversible middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) was used in rats. The somatosensory evoked potential (SEP) was recorded before and after MCAO. EA was applied one hour after cerebral ischemia and once a day after reperfusion for 7 days in EA+ MCAO group. It was shown that the amplitude of P1-N1 wave of SEP before MCAO was 100%. After MCAO 30 min the P1-N1 wave of SEP on the ipsilateral side of MCAO was decreased to 2.2 +/- 3% (MCAO group), 1.9 +/- 2% (MCAO+ EA group); and then recovered to 25.5 +/- 14.1% (MCAO group), 58.6 +/- 27.2% (MCAO+ EA group) after 7 days of reperfusion following MCAO 2 hours. The above results indicated that EA could promote the recovery of neurological function in acute ischemic stroke patients and SEP on MCAO rats.