YiQiFuMai powder injection ameliorates blood-brain barrier dysfunction and brain edema after focal cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury in mice

YiQiFuMai powder injection (YQFM) is a modern preparation derived from the traditional Chinese medicine Sheng-Mai-San. YQFM is widely used in clinical practice in the People's Republic of China, mainly for the treatment of microcirculatory disturbance-related diseases. However, little is known about its role in animals with ischemic stroke. The aim of this study was to examine the effect of YQFM on brain edema and blood-brain barrier (BBB) dysfunction induced by cerebral ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury. Male C57BL/6J mice underwent right middle cerebral artery occlusion for 1 hour with a subsequent 24-hour reperfusion to produce I/R injury. YQFM (three doses: 0.336, 0.671, and 1.342 g/kg) was then given intraperitoneally (IP). The results demonstrated that YQFM significantly decreased infarct size, improved neurological deficits, reduced brain water content, and increased cerebral blood flow after I/R injury. F-18-fluorodeoxyglucose micro-positron emission tomography imaging and hematoxylin and eosin staining results indicated that YQFM is able to ameliorate brain metabolism and histopathological damage after I/R. Moreover, YQFM administration reduced BBB leakage and upregulated the expression of zona occludens-1 (ZO-1) and occludin, which was confirmed by Evans Blue extravasation, Western blotting, and immunofluorescence assay. Our findings suggest that YQFM provides protection against focal cerebral I/R injury in mice, possibly by improving BBB dysfunction via upregulation of the expression of tight junction proteins.