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Clinic researches manifested that acupuncture can improve the puhnonary function of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients.We presume that orexins, synthesized in hypothalamus and considered as the important respiratory regulators, participate into the acupuncture effect.The experiment animals were divided into three groups-normal, COPD and EA.COPD model were established with SpragueDawley rats exposed to cigarette smoke (1 h twice daily) for 12 weeks.Electro-acupuncture (EA) were done on bilateral acupoints of FeiShu (BL13) and ZuSanLi (ST36) for 30 min a day in 2 weeks.After EA, the airway resistance decreased and the lung dynamic compliance increased (P<0.05).The orexin-A level in hypothalamus and medulla was very higher in COPD than in normal (P<0.01;P<0.001), but was not significantly decreased in EA.The mRNA expression and immunoreactivity of orexin 1 type receptor (OX1R) in ventrolateral medulla was significantly higher (P<0.05;P<0.01) in COPD than in normal.After EA, there was significant decrease for OX2R expression (all P<0.01), but a decrease tendency for OX1 R (all P<0.05).Conclusion: The EA effect on improving the pulmonary function in COPD rats may be relevant to the down-regulation of orexin receptor expression in medulla.