Abstract: Objective To investigate the effects of moxibustion on inflammatory cell infiltration and CD11b expression in ipsilateral brain of a neonatal mouse model with hypoxic-ischemic (HI) brain injury. Methods Postnatal 7 d ICR mice were randomly divided into three groups: sham group (n=20), HI group (n=24) and moxibustion-treated group (n=20). For sham animals, only neck surgery was performed and the common carotid artery was not occluded and was not exposed to hypoxia. For HI animals, the common carotid artery was occluded and exposed to hypoxia, while for moxibustion-treated animals, moxibustion treatment (once a day for 35 minutes) was applied in addition to HI procedure. TTC staining was used to examine area of cerebral infarction in rats, HE staining was used to detect inflammatory cells, and immunofluorescent staining was used to examine the CD11b-positive cells in the ipsilateral brain. Results Mice in HI group showed larger infarct area, more cell loss, more inflammatory cells and more CD11b-positive cells in the ipsilateral brain than those in sham group, while mice in moxibuston-treated group showed smaller infarct area, less cell loss, less inflammatory cells and less CD11b -positive cells in the ipsilateral brain than those in HI group. Conclusion Moxibustion can decrease microglia infiltration and alleviate inflammation reaction, hence reducing brain injury after HI procedure.

Key words: antigens, CD11b, hypoxia-ischemia, brain, animals, newborn, moxibustion treatment