Abstract: Objective To observe the changes of inflammatory damage in the brain of rats after focal cerebral ischemia-reperfusion, and explore the effect of the initiation of IκB kinases β (IKKβ), which is the key protein of activating nuclear factor (NF)-kappa B signaling pathway in inflammatory response, and the mechanism of electroacupuncture inhibiting inflammatory damage. Methods A total of 240 male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into sham group, ischemia-reperfusion group, electroacupuncture group, IKKβ silencing group, IKKβ overexpression group and IKKβ overexpression + electroacupuncture group, each group was further divided into six hours, twelve hours, 24 hours, 48 hours and 72 hours subgroups. The right middle cerebral artery occlusion reperfusion model was established by modified thread embolization. The IKKβ gene was intervened by gene silencing and gene overexpression technology. Results Compared with the model group, the neurological function score increased (P < 0.05), the cerebral infarction volume decreased (P < 0.05), the activation of NF-κB p65 was inhibited, and the content of proinflammatory factors decreased (P < 0.05) in IKKβ silencing group. Compared with IKKβ silencing group, the above results were significantly worse in IKKβ overexpression group (P < 0.05), and microglia in cerebral ischemic cortex were significantly activated. The activation of microglia and activation of IKKβ were significantly inhibited in IKKβ overexpression + electroacupuncture group. Conclusion IKKβ gene silencing could inhibit the inflammatory response of cerebral ischemic cortex mediated by NF-κB signaling pathway, and over-expression of IKKβ could lead to severe inflammatory damage in ischemic cortex. Electroacupuncture could inhibit the inflammatory damage after focal cerebral ischemia-reperfusion by regulating the activity of IKKβ.

Key words: focal cerebral ischemia-reperfusion, electroacupuncture, inflammation, IκB kinases β, gene silence, microglial cell, rats