Abstract: Objective To explore the effects of electroacupuncture combined with enriched rehabilitation training on the expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in the cerebral cortex of neonatal rats with brain injury. Methods Lipopolysaccharide (LPS, 450 μg/kg&#8729;d) was injected to pregnant rats on the 17th and 18th days intraperitoneally. The control group was injected with equal sterile normal saline. The neonatal rats injected with LPS were randomly divided into non-intervention group and intervention group. The intervention group received intervention once a day until the 28th day. The control group and the non-intervention groups were fed regularly. Immunohistochemistry (SABC) was used to detect the expression of BDNF on the 1st, 14th, 21st and 28th days. Results The expression of BDNF was higher in the non-intervention group than in the control group (P<0.01) on the 1st day, but there was no significant difference on the 14th, 21st and 28th days. And it was higher in the intervention group than in the other 2 groups (P<0.01). Conclusion Electroacupuncture combined with enriched rehabilitation training can significantly improve the expression of BDNF in cerebral cortex of neonatal rats with brain injury

Key words: intrauterine infection, brain injury, electroacupuncture, enriched rehabilitation training, brain-derived neurotrophic factor