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SPECIFIC NEUROPROTECTIVE EFFECTS OF MANUAL STIMULATION OF REAL ACUPOINTS VERSUS NON-ACUPOINTS IN RATS AFTER MIDDLE CEREBRAL ARTERY OCCLUSION Li, Xin Ling; Fan, Nong Xiao; Meng, Hong Zhi; Shi, Min Xue; Luo, Ding & Zhang, Nan Ya Abstract The objective of this study was to investigate the effectiveness and specific effects of acupuncture on ischemic-induced damage in rats after permanent middle cerebral artery occlusion. Cerebral ischemia was induced by middle cerebral artery occlusion in male Wistar rats. The rats were divided into the following 4 groups: normal controls, ischemic, real acupuncture-treated (Shuigou, DU26), and non-acupoint-treated groups. On the third postoperative day, neurological deficit scores, cerebral blood flow, infarction volume, and neuronal cell death counts were measured. In the real acupuncture-treated group, the neurological deficit scores and cerebral blood flow were improved (p < 0.05) and the infarction volume and neuronal cell death counts were reduced (p < 0.01) compared to the ischemic and non-acupoint-treated groups. The present study demonstrated that real acupuncture was effective against focal ischemia-induced damage in rats after middle cerebral artery occlusion, and the effects were specifically related to the right needling location. Keywords specificity; real acupoint; non-acupoint; middle cerebral artery occlusion; animal experimentation

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