Effect of Electroacupuncture on Levels of Serum HIF-1α and VEGF in the Treatment of Patients with Acute Cerebral Infarction

OBJECTIVE To explore the clinical effect of electroacupuncture in the treatment of acute cerebral infarction and its influence on the levels of serum hypoxia inducible factor-1 alpha (HIF-1α) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). METHODS 60 patients with acute cerebral infarction were randomly divided into the electroacupuncture group and the control group. The control group was treated the conventional western medicine， and the control group was also treated with the electroacupuncture on the basis of the control group. The changes of NIHSS score and Barthel score， and the changes of HIF-1α and VEGF levels were observed before and after the treatment. RESULTS Comparing the clinical effect of patients in both groups， the total effective rate of the electronic group (88.46%) was higher than that of the control group (62.50%， P<0.05). NIHSS score and Barthel score in both groups were improved after the treatment (P<0.01)， and the electroacupuncture group was better than the control group (P<0.05). After the treatment， serum HIF-1α levels in both groups were lower than those of the pre-treatment(P<0.01)， VEGF levels were higher those of the pre-treatment (P<0.01)， and the electroacupuncture group was improved more significantly than the control group (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS The electroacupuncture can obviously improve the clinical effect in the treatment of patients with acute cerebral infarction， significantly decrease the HIF-1α expression and promote VEGF expression.