Objective    To observe hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis activity after traumatic stress via electroacupuncture (EA) modulation,and to explore the role of FKBP5 located in hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus (PVN).Methods    Sixty male rats were randomly divided into 5 groups (n=12):control,1 day after trauma,3 days after trauma,7 days after trauma and EA intervention.SP-6 and ST-36 EA were applied to the strongest stress group as the intervention in order to observe the recovery of HPA axis.Then the body temperature of each group was measured at the corresponding time points,immunohistochemical staining was used to detect the expressions of c-fos and FOSB in the hypothalamic PVN.The levels of serum hormones were measured by radioimmunoassay.Western blot was used to detect FKBP5 expression Results    The body temperature of the rats in the one day trauma group was significantly higher ［(37.90±0.21)℃vs. (37.20±0.25)℃,P<0.05］ than that in the control group,and the expression levels of c-fos (1.00±0.16 vs.2.30±0.22,P<0.01) and FOSB (1.00±0.08 vs.2.00±0.33,P<0.001) in the hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus also increased significantly.However,compared with the strongest stress group,the serum ACTH (33.80±4.88 vs. 28.20±3.31,P<0.05) and CORT (338.39±29.51 vs. 280.85±30.39,P<0.01) of the intervention group decreased significantly.At the same time,Western blot results showed that FKBP5 (3.30±0.47 vs. 2.50±0.42,P<0.05) expression in hypothalamic PVN was also significantly reduced.Conclusions     The activity of HPA axis can reach the highest level 1 day after traumatic stress,and can be significantly down-regulated by EA which may be depended on FKBP5.