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Ethnopharmacological Relevant: YangXueQingNaoWan (YXQNW), a compound Chinese medicine, has been widely used for dizziness, irritability, insomnia, and dreaminess caused by blood deficiency and liver hyperactivity in China. However, whether YXQNW can inhibit cerebral microvascular exudation and cerebral hemorrhage (CH) caused by blood brain barrier (BBB) damage after tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) still unknown., Aim of the Research: To observe the effect of YXQNW on cerebral microvascular exudation and CH after tPA and investigate its mechanism in protecting BBB., Materials and Methods: Male C57BL/6 N mice suffered from ischemia stroke by mechanical detachment of carotid artery thrombi with the stimulation of ferric chloride. Then mice were treated with tPA (10 mg/kg) and/or YXQNW (0.72 g/kg) at 4.5 h. Cerebral blood flow (CBF), infarct size, survival rate, neurological scores, gait analysis, Evans blue extravasation, cerebral water content, fluorescein isothiocyanate-labeled albumin leakage, hemorrhage, junction and basement membrane proteins expression, leukocyte adhesion and matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) expression were evaluated 24 h after tPA. Proteomics was used to identify target proteins., Results: YXQNW inhibited cerebral infarction, neurobehavioral deficits, decreased survival, Evans blue leakage, albumin leakage, cerebral water content and CH after tPA thrombolysis; improved CBF, low-expression and degradation of junction proteins, basement membrane proteins, Arhgap21 and its downstream α-catenin and β-catenin proteins expression; and suppressed the increase of adherent leukocytes and the release of MMP-9 derived from macrophage., Conclusion: YXQNW relieved BBB damage and attenuated cerebral microvascular exudation and CH after tPA thrombolysis. The effect of YXQNW on cerebral microvascular exudation was associated with the inhibition of the low-expression of junction proteins, especially AJs mediated by Rho GTPase-activating protein 21 (Arhgap21), while the effect on CH was associated with the inhibition of leukocyte adhesion, the release of MMP-9 derived from macrophage, and low-expression and degradation of collagen IV and laminin in the vascular basement membrane., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper, (Copyright © 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

In the present paper, we summarized the relevant research literature on the underlying mechanism of electroacupuncture (EA) intervention in improving cerebral ischemia (CI) in middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) model rats in recent 5 years from preconditioning and regular intervention. Outcomes showed that both EA preconditioning and regular intervention could relieve CI by reducing toxicity of excitatory amino acids (glutamate, aspartate) and TLR4/NF-κB-mediated inflammatory cascade reaction to relieve inflammatory injury. Moreover, EA preconditioning also could suppress the expression of pro-apoptosis genes and proteins to relieve apoptosis, regulate activation of microglia, and down-regulate the expression of blood brain barrier integrity-related matrix metalloprotein 9. Regular EA intervention also could promote angiogenesis to increase supply of blood and oxygen, facilitate regeneration, proliferation and differentiation of neural stem cells via triggering activation of Notch and Shh signaling pathways, and promote the secretion of neurotrophin by up-regulating the expression of brain derived neurotrophic factor and nerve growth factor /Trk A receptor, and promote expression of axon growth and synaptic remodeling-related factor (Ephrin B2/Eph B2) and sr-GTPase activating protein 1 and cell division cycle 42 (Cdc42, axon growth and orientated down-stream molecules). However, up to now, the conclusion is still fragmentary and one-sided, and can not explain the specific mechanism of electroacupuncture in MCAO rats, needing further in-depth study.