title: Electro-acupuncture can alleviate the cerebral oedema of rat after ischemia.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study was designed to determine whether electro-acupuncture (EA) could alleviate cerebral oedema after cerebral ischemia.
  
  
  METHODS
  EA has been widely used for cerebrovascular disease in East Asian countries. However, whether EA might reduce cerebral oedema after stroke remains unclear. In the current study, diffusion-weighted MRI, which is a reliable method for detecting cerebral oedema, was used to determine whether EA could ameliorate cerebral oedema.
  
  
  METHODS
  Twelve rats with induced strokes were divided into two groups: one group with EA treatment (EA group) and one group without EA treatment (non-EA group). Both groups of rats underwent MRI scanning at the same time point following ischemia.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Diffusion-weighted imaging showed that the relative apparent diffusion coefficient increased significantly in the cortical and sub-cortical areas of the EA group relative to the non-EA group, indicating that EA can alleviate cerebral oedema after ischemic stroke.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Electro-acupuncture can alleviate cerebral oedema in rats following ischemia.
authors.affiliation: Department of Rehabilitation, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, WuLuMuQi Middle Road 12, Shanghai, PR China.
authors.forename: Feng
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Yi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Jia
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001929:Brain Edema / Q000628:therapy*; D002545:Brain Ischemia / Q000150:complications*; D015671:Electroacupuncture / Q000379:methods*; D018810:Magnetic Resonance Angiography; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D020521:Stroke / Q000150:complications*