To explore the effects of electroacupuncture therapy on intestinal flora and inflammatory immune function in ischemic stroke model rats.

According to random number table method，16 Sprague Dawley（SD）rats were divided into sham operation group，middle cerebral artery occlusion（MCAO）group，MCAO+electroacupuncture group and MCAO+electroacupuncture non-acupoint group. Left MCAO operation was conducted with wire occlusion method to prepare brain ischemia-reperfusion animalmodel. After the operation，the animal model was put into wood shavings and kept warm water to observe the changes. After 2 hours，the wire occlusion was slowly withdrawn，while only the arteries were separated and then sewed up in the sham operation group.24 hours aftermodeling，the MCAO+electroacupuncture group selected Shenting（DU24）and Baihui（DU20）and applied SDZ-V electroacupuncture instrument with density wave（1～20 Hz）once a day，for a total of 7 days. The sham operation group and the MCAO group were given the same feeding and grasping conditions with out any treatment. In the MCAO+electroacupuncture non-acupoint group，the hypocholic non-meridian and non-acupoint pointswere selected，and the electroacupuncture intervention was carried out24 hours aftermodeling for 14 days. The neural function of rats in each group was observed 24 h and 3，7 and 14 days after themodeling，and the change of brain water contentwas detected after the intervention for 14 days. After successfulmodeling，longamethod was used to score the neurological impairment. Morriswatermaze experiment evaluated the spatial learning and memory ability of rats. Western blotanalysiswas performed to detect the growth related proteins of ischemic penumbra neurons in each group. Real-time fluorescence quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction（PCR）was used to detect the changes of intestinal flora in rat stool. The contents of interleukin-1β（IL-1β）and intercellular adhesionmolecule-1（ICAM-1）in serum and brain tissue were detected by double antibody sandwich ABC-enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay（ABC-ELISA）. The correlation between IL-1β，ICAM-1 and intestinal flora was analyzed.

The neurological function of the rats in each group was evaluated at 24 h and 3，7，14 d aftermodeling. The neurological function deficit score of the rats in the electroacupuncture group was lower than that in the MCAO group at the same period after cerebral ischemia reperfusion，and the acupoint group was significantly lower than that in the non-acupoint group（P<0.01）. The improvement of nerve function in electroacupuncture group wasmore significant with the extension of intervention time. Compared with thatof the MCAO group，the escape latency ofMCAO+electroacupuncture group was significantly shortened（P<0.05），and the number of crossing platform in the MCAO+electroacupuncture group was increased（P<0.05）. Compared with those of the MCAO group，the expressions of growth associated protein-43（GAP-43）and neurofilament-200（NF-200）increased（P<0.05），and the expressions of repulsive guidancemolecule a（RGMa）decreased（P<0.05）in the electroacupuncture group and non-acupoint group. The water content of brain tissue in electroacupuncture group decreased significantly（P<0.01）. Compared with that of the MCAO group，the number of Escherichia coli and enterococcus in feces of the MCAO+electroacupuncture group decreased（P<0.05），while the number of bifidobacterium and lactobacillus increased（P<0.05）. The levels of IL-1β and ICAM-1 in peripheral blood and brain tissue of ischemic stroke rats in the electroacupuncture group were decreased（P<0.05）. IL-1βand ICAM-1 were negatively correlated with the number of lactobacillus and bifidobacterium，butpositively correlated with the number of Escherichia coliand enterococcus.

Electroacupuncture can regulate intestinal flora disturbance in ischemic stroke ratmodel，reduce inflammatory response through anti-inflammatory and maintenance of immune tolerancemechanism，and play a role in brain protection.