Objective To observe the effect of Biantie（bian stone plaste） pretreatment on serum level of prolyl hydroxylase domain 2（PHD2） and hypoxia-inducible factor-1α（HIF-1α） in rats with acute hypobaric hypoxia induced-brain injury

and to explore the possible mechanism of Biantie on preventing brain injury at high altitude. Methods Forty-five male SD rats were randomly divided into a blank group

a model group

a Biantie group

a medication group and a Biantie+inhibitor group

9 rats in each group. The rats in the Biantie group the and the Biantie+inhibitor group were pretreated with Biantie at "Taiyuan"（LU 9）

"Neiguan"（PC 6） and "Renying"（ST 9）

2 h each time

once a day; the rats in the medication group were treated with intragastric administration of rhodiola capsule solution（280 mg/kg） for 14 d; the rats in the Biantie+inhibitor group were intraperitoneally injected with the PHD inhibitor dimethyloxalyl glycine（DMOG） at a dose of 40 mg/kg 24 h before the establishment of the model. After the intervention

except for the blank group

the rats in the remaining 4 groups were placed in the oxygen chamber to simulate a high-altitude environment to establish the acute hypobaric hypoxia brain injury model. The arterial blood-gas analysis indexes [blood oxygen saturation（SaO

2

）

lactic acid（Lac）

blood sodium（Na

+

）

blood potassium（K

+

）] and brain water content were detected in each group; the histomorphology of cerebral cortex was observed by HE staining; the serum levels of PHD2 and HIF-1α as well as vascular endothelial growth factor（VEGF） were detected by ELISA; the VEGF protein expression in brain tissue was detected by Western blot; the VEGF m RNA expression in brain tissue was detected by real-time fluorescent quantitative PCR. Results Compared with the blank group

the levels of SaO

2

and Na+ in the model group were decreased（P

<

0.05）

while the levels of Lac and K

+

as well as the water content of brain tissue were increased（P

<

0.05）. Compared with the model group

the level of SaO

2

in the Biantie group and the medication group was increased（P

<

0.05）

while the levels of Lac

K

+

and the water content of brain tissue were decreased（P

<

0.05）; the level of Na

+

in the Biantie group was increased（P

<

0.05）. Compared with the Biantie group

the level of SaO

2

in the Biantie+inhibitor group was decreased（P

<

0.05）

and the level of Lac and the water content of brain tissue were increased（P

<

0.05）. In the model group

the cortical tissue cells were loose and disordered

the cortical blood vessels were dilated

and the cells were obviously swollen; the anoxic injury in the Biantie group and the medication group was lighter

and the anoxic injury in the Biantie+inhibitor group was more obvious than that in the Biantie group. Compared with the blank group

the serum PHD2 content in the model group was decreased and the HIF-1α content was increased（P

<

0.05）

and the content of VEGF in serum and VEGF protein and mRNA expressions in brain were increased（P

<

0.05）.Compared with the model group

the content of PHD2 in serum in the Biantie group and the medication group was increased（P

<

0.05）

and the level of HIF-1α was decreased（P

<

0.05）

and the content of VEGF in serum as well as VEGF protein and mRNA expressions in brain were decreased（P

<

0.05）. Compared with the Biantie group

the serum PHD2 content in the Biantie+inhibitor group was decreased and HIF-1α level were increased（P

<

0.05）

and the content of VEGF in serum as well as VEGF mRNA expression in brain were increased（P

<

0.05）. Conclusion Biantie at "Taiyuan"（LU 9）

"Neiguan"（PC 6） and "Renying"（ST 9） could regulate serum PHD2/HIF-1α to down-regulate VEGF expression

reduce brain edema and enhance anti-hypoxia ability

so as to achieve the purpose of preventing brain injury at high altitude.