Cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury(CIRI) refers to the damage caused by a series of cascade reactions after the blood vessels of ischemic brain tissue in the infarct area restore blood perfusion，and its symptoms can be aggravated compared with the previous stage.It is manifested as apoptosis，necrosis，or morphological changes of brain neurocytes.Neurocyte apoptosis plays an extremely important role in the pathological process of CIRI.As indicated by literature review in China and abroad，there are many factors that cause neurocyte apoptosis after CIRI，including excitatory amino acid/oxygen free radical，Ca2+ overload，mitochondrial damage，apoptosis-associated gene，endoplasmic reticulum stress，and inflammatory response.Currently，thrombolysis serves as the most effective and commonly used treatment for ischemic cerebrovascular disease(ICVD)，but it is disadvantageous in the complicated process and inconvenient operation.Acupuncture and moxibustion therapy has the advantages of convenient operation and few side effects for the treatment of ICVD.It can make up for the deficiency of thrombolysis with the complex operation which is limited by objective factors such as time and place and has a good adjuvant effect on the disease.As reported by a large number of basic studies，acupuncture and moxibustion therapy can treat neurocyte apoptosis by mediating excitatory amino acid toxicity，Ca2+ overload，inflammatory response，apoptosis-associated gene，etc.At present，however，research on acupuncture and moxibustion therapy in endoplasmic reticulum stress and mitochondrial damage is rarely reported.Strengthening the research on these two aspects may make a breakthrough in the acupuncture and moxibustion treatment of CIRI.