Research Article

Effect of Electroacupuncture on Rat Ischemic Brain Injury: Importance of Stimulation Duration

Table 1

EA period-dependent protection against ischemic injury.

GroupsNeurological deficitInfarct volumeDeath rate

Ischemia6.0 ± 0.5 (5 ~ 7) ( ) ( )18% (8 out of 45)
EA-5 min5.0 ± 0.5 (4 ~ 6) ( )*▲ ( )*▲11% (2 out of 18)**▲
EA-15 min3.0 ± 0.5 (2 ~ 4) ( )**▲ ( )**▲6% (1 out of 16)**▲
EA-30 min1.0 ± 0.5 (0 ~ 2) ( )**▲ ( )**▲7% (2 out of 30)**▲
EA-45 min7.0 ± 0.0 (~7) ( )* ( )60% (18 out of 30)**

versus Ischemia. ** versus Ischemia. versus EA-45 min. Note that EA significantly reduced the infarct volume, neurological deficit, and death rate and this protective effect became better and better when the length of EA increased from 5 to 30 minutes. However, EA for 45 mins did not improve the neurological deficit and infarct volume and even increased the death rate.