<p style="text-align: center;">JI Caishuo, MA Siming，YANG Nana，TIAN Zhongxue，YANG Jingwen，SHAO Jiakai，WANG Xuerui，LIU Cunzhi</p><p style="text-align: center;">(1 Beijing Hospital of TCM Affiliated to Capital Medical University, Beijing Key Laboratory of Acupuncture Neuromodulation, Beijing 100010, China;2 Beijing University of Chinese Medicine,Beijing 100029)</p><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Abstract</strong>:&nbsp;<strong> Objective</strong>&nbsp; To&nbsp; observe&nbsp; the&nbsp; effects&nbsp; of&nbsp; acupuncture&nbsp; on&nbsp; The&nbsp; Level&nbsp; of&nbsp; Inflammatory cytokines&nbsp; and&nbsp; toll-like&nbsp; receptor&nbsp; 4&nbsp; in&nbsp; hypothalamic&nbsp; paraventricular&nbsp; nucleus （ PVN ）&nbsp; &nbsp;of Spontaneously&nbsp; hypertensive&nbsp; rats （SHR）；To&nbsp; investigate&nbsp; the&nbsp; mechanisms&nbsp; of&nbsp; acupuncture&nbsp; in reduction of mean arterial blood pressure（MAP）&nbsp; in SHR. <strong>Methods</strong> 30 SHR were randomized into SHR group, acupuncture group and non-acupoint group. 10 Wistar Kyoto (WKY) group was set&nbsp; as&nbsp; control&nbsp; group. After&nbsp; treatment,&nbsp; the&nbsp; MAP&nbsp; was&nbsp; measured&nbsp; by&nbsp; the&nbsp; tail-cuff&nbsp; method. Tumor&nbsp;</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Necrosis Factor (TNF)-α&nbsp; and interleukin (IL)-6 were detected by ELISA . RT -PCR was used to detect TLR4&nbsp; mRNA&nbsp; expression,&nbsp; and&nbsp; the&nbsp; protein&nbsp; expression&nbsp; of TLR4&nbsp; in&nbsp; PVN&nbsp; was&nbsp; assayed&nbsp; by Western blot. <strong>Results</strong>&nbsp; Compared with WKY group, the MAP of SHR group significantly increased, the&nbsp; level&nbsp; of&nbsp; inflammatory&nbsp; cytokines&nbsp; and&nbsp; the&nbsp; expression&nbsp; of&nbsp; TLR4&nbsp; in&nbsp; the&nbsp; PVN&nbsp; of&nbsp; SHR&nbsp; rats significantly&nbsp; increased&nbsp; (P&lt;0.05).&nbsp; After&nbsp; the&nbsp; acupuncture&nbsp; treatment,&nbsp; the&nbsp; MAP&nbsp; of&nbsp; SHR&nbsp; rats significantly decreased (P&lt;0.05). Acupuncture reduced the level of inflammatory cytokines and the&nbsp; expression&nbsp; of&nbsp; TLR4&nbsp; in&nbsp; the&nbsp; PVN&nbsp; of&nbsp; SHR&nbsp; rats&nbsp; (P&lt;0.05).&nbsp; There&nbsp; was&nbsp; no&nbsp; obvious&nbsp; difference between&nbsp; SHR&nbsp; group&nbsp; and&nbsp; non-acupoint&nbsp; group.&nbsp;<strong> Conclusion</strong>&nbsp; Acupuncture&nbsp; can&nbsp; attenuate&nbsp; blood pressure , inhibiting expression of TLR4 and reducing the level of inflammatory cytokines. These may be a mechanism of acupuncture on high blood pressure.&nbsp;</p><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Key words</strong>：Acupuncture, Hypertension, TLR4, Inflammatory cytokines</p><p><br/></p>