RESUMEN
Objective To observe the effect of acupuncture on cerebral glial fibrillary acidic protein(GFAP)expression of brain injury caused by intrauterine infection in neonatal rats.Methods Forty-three Wistar pregnant rats were divided into 2 groups:lipopolysaccharide(LPS)(n=35)and normal saline(n=8).Pregnant rats were consecutively injected intraperitoneally with LPS(450 ?g/kg)or saline on gestation 17 d and 18 d.LPS group were randomly divided into acupuncture group and model group.Acupuncture group were given acupunctured from 7 d to 21 d.GFAP expression was assayed with immunohistochemical technique.Results The number of GFAP immunoreaction(IR)strongly-positive neurons in the cerebral white matter was more in acupuncture group,less in model group and only very weakly IR-positive neurons were found in normal saline group.Conclusion Acupuncture can up-regulate the expression of GFAP in the cerebral white matter,which may contribute to the effect of acupuncture in improving brain injury caused by intrauterine infection.