Objective： To observe the effect of electroacupuncture （EA） on serum interleukin （IL）-6, IL-8 and IL-10 in rat models of cerebral ischemia-reperfusion, and to discover the mechanism of EA in preventing and treating cerebral ischemia. 〈br〉 Methods：Male Sprague Dawley （SD） rats were randomized into a sham-operation （SO） group, a model control （MC） group, and an EA group, which were sub-grouped into a 6-hour group and a 24-hour group. In the SO group, rats only received vessel separation with filament placed inside without any treatment. In the MC and EA groups, the focal cerebral ischemia-reperfusion model was induced by using modified Longa method with intraluminal filament. The MC group didn’t receive any treatment;the EA group received EA at Baihui （GV 20） and Dazhui （GV 14） with sparse-dense wave for 30 min. The levels of serum IL-6, IL-8 and IL-10 were detected by using Elisa test. 〈br〉 Results： Six hours after ischemia-reperfusion injury, the levels of serum IL-6, IL-8 and IL-10 in the MC group were significantly higher than those in the SO group （P〈0.01, P〈0.05, P〈0.05）;the level of serum IL-8 in the EA group was significantly lower than that in the MC group （P〈0.05）, while there were no significant differences in comparing IL-6 and IL-10 between the EA group and the MC group. Twenty-four hours after ischemia-reperfusion injury, the levels of serum IL-6 and IL-8 in the EA group were significantly lower than those in the MC group （both P〈0.05）, while there were no significant differences in comparing the level of IL-10 among the three groups. 〈br〉 Conclusion：Early intervention by EA can regulate the levels of serum IL-6 and IL-8 in cerebral ischemic injury.
