BACKGROUND:Some researches report that He-Ne laser can activate function of erythrocytes and increase content of blood and oxygen via bio-stimulating effect;therefore,it suspects that laser radiation at Baihui and Dazhui can partially increase blood circulation for oxygen-supplying content of brain and improve functional status of neurons.OBJECTIVE:To verify the effects of laser radiation at Baihui and Dazhui on the expression of Nissl body of brain tissue neurons and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in newborn rats with ischemic/hypoxic cerebral injury.DESIGN:Randomized controlled animal study.SETTING:Department of Neurological Histochemistry,Xianning University.MATERIALS:Forty Wistar rats of 7 - 8 days old,weighing 15 - 20 g and of both genders,were selected from Wuhan Experimental Animal Center.All the rats were randomly divided into sham operation group (n =8),model group (n =16) and radiation group (n =16).The experimental animals were disposed according to ethical criteria.BDNF kit was provided by Wuhan Boster Bioengineering Co.,Ltd.METHODS:The experiment was carried out in the Department of Neurological Histochemistry,Xianning University from April 2005 to October 2006.Rats in the radiation group and model group were performed with ligation of left common carotid artery,recovered at room temperature for 1-6 days,maintained in self-made hypoxic cabin under normal pressure and injected mixture gas (0.05 volume fraction of O2 and 0.92 volume fraction of N2) for 2 hours.In addition,rats in the sham operation group were treated with separation of left common carotid artery but not ligation and hypoxia.Rats in the model group were not given any treatment;while,rats in the radiation group were exposed with He-Ne laser of 63.28 nm in the wave length at Baihui and Dazhui acupoints on the second day after ischemia-hypoxia.The radiation was given for 10 minutes per day and once a day.Ten days were regarded as a course and the rats were exposed for 2 courses in total.At 20 days after routine breeding,left hemisphere tissues of rats in the three groups were collected for staining of Nissl body and immunohistochemistry of BDNF.MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES:Nissl body staining in left hemisphere tissue and expression of immune positive cells of BDNF.RESULTS:All 40 rats were involved in the final analysis.①Nissl body staining:Neuronal cytoplasm of brain tissue was full of blue granule Nissl bodies in the sham operation group;while,Nissl body in neuronal cytoplasm in the model group was stained slightly and had a certain degree of degeneration;meanwhile,there were a lot of blank area in ischemic region.Nissl body in neuron cytoplasm was gradually recovered in the radiation group and relieved as compared with that in the model group.② Positive cells of BDNF:Number of immune positive cells of BDNF which were ligated in lateral cerebral hemisphere of rats in the model group was higher than that in the sham operation group (P＜0.05);while,BDNF expression in the radiation group was increased as compared with that in the model group (P＜0.05).CONCLUSION:After laser acupoint radiation,Nissl body is increased and BDNF expression is also increased.This suggests that laser acupoint radiation has neuroprotective effect on brain tissue after ischemia-hypoxia injury.