Figure 1.

Schematic representation of the experimental protocols. Rats were randomly divided into five groups. Sham group in which the left ICA was exposed surgically but not subjected to occlusion. In the I/R and XXMD-treated groups, focal cerebral ischemia was induced in rats by MCAO for 90 min followed by reperfusion for 24 h as indicated in this figure. In the XXMD-treated group, the rats were administered with XXMD for 3 days before MCAO. In some cases, XXMD-treated rats received by intracerebroventricular injection of either the PI3K inhibitor LY294002 or vehicle 30 min prior to ischemic induction. As shown in this figure, neurological functions were observed and brains were collected at 24 h after reperfusion for TTC staining, histological analyses, TUNEL staining, immunofluorescence staining, and Western blot. Sham, sham control; ICA, internal carotid artery; I/R, ischemia and reperfusion; XXMD, Xiao-Xu-Ming decoction; MCAO, middle cerebral artery occlusion; R, reperfusion after cerebral ischemia.