Protective effect of Tong-Qiao-Huo-Xue decoction on inflammatory injury caused by intestinal microbial disorders in stroke rat

Tong-Qiao-Huo-Xue Decoction (TQHXD) is a classic traditional Chinese medicine prescription for treating cerebral ischemia. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of TQHXD on intervening inflammatory response of ischemic stroke by regulating intestinal flora and repairing the intestinal barrier. A rat model of cerebral ischemia was established using middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) and behavioral scores were performed. We performed the high throughput 16SrDNA sequencing of intestinal bacteria in fecal samples of rat. We found that TQHXD can change the main components of intestinal flora in stroke rat, and reduce the excessive increase of Bacteroidetes, and also regulate the abnormal changes of abundance of some flora. We found that stroke can cause destruction of the intestinal epithelial barrier and entering the blood of bacterial metabolites, while TQHXD has an improved effect on this phenomenon. Meanwhile, Pathological changes in the brain tissue and infarct volume were also alleviated by TQHXD. Due to the disorder of the intestinal flora and the destruction of the barrier, the peripheral immune imbalance causes an inflammatory reaction. TQHXD can improve the imbalance of T cells, and inhibit the inflammatory response. Finally, therapeutic transplantation of fecal microbiota also improved the outcome of stroke in rat. Our presented results suggest that TQHXD may improve the gut microbiota disorder and its induced inflammatory response after stroke, which can be a new target and mechanism for the treatment of stroke.