ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE Vascular dementia (VD) refers to a progressive decline in memory and cognitive function caused by chronic cerebral ischemia. 2-Vessels occlusion (2-VO) has been widely used as a model of VD. Xiao-Xu-Ming decoction, a well-known traditional Chinese medicine prescrip-tion,has been widely used to treat stroke and sequelae of stroke.The present study was to investigate the mechanism of Xiao-Xu-Ming decoction(XXM) against chronic cerebral ischemia injury in rats. METHODS After XXM treatment, rats were performed a memory testing with Morris water maze and motor ability testing using prehensile test and inclined screen test.Neuronal plasticity was observed by immunofluorescent staining with MAP2 antibody. Differentially expressed proteins of rat hippocampus were analyzed by Label-free quantitative proteomics. RESULTS XXM significantly alleviated 2-VO-induced learning and memory deficits, motor ability dysfunction, and neuronal plasticity injury in rats. The mechanism might be involved in up-regulation of 39 proteins and down-regulation of 13 proteins in the hippocampus of rats after XXM treatment vs 2-VO group rats.Gene ontology and pathway analysis showed that the regulated proteins are mainly involved in oxidation reduction process, intracellular signaling cascade process, and protein catabolic process, etc. The signal pathways are mainly involved in ubiquitin mediated proteolysis and phosphatidylinositol signaling system. CONCLUSION Current findings provide new insights into the molecular mechanisms of XXM on chronic cerebral ischemia.