Spatial regulation effects of Taohong Siwu decoction on disordered lipids in a rat model of ischemic stroke assessed using mass spectrometry imaging.

Ischemic stroke serves as a disease closely related to cerebral blood vessels, with high mortality, disability, and recurrence rates. Growing studies have confirmed that lipid disturbances have a strong correlation with ischemic stroke damage. Taohong Siwu decoction (THSWD) as a classical remedy in Chinese pharmacopeia medicinal formula could promote blood circulation and eliminate stagnation of blood. THSWD has attracted extensive attention in its research on treating cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury. However, the spatial effects about THSWD on lipids in ischemic stroke have not been adequately studied. Here, we comprehensively determined the spatial effects of THSWD on lipid dysregulation about the rodent cerebral tissue with middle cerebral artery occlusion-reperfusion (MCAO/R) using desorption electrospray ionization mass spectrometry imaging (DESI-MSI). Our findings suggest that the spatial distributions of 40 lipids were observed in normal rat brain tissue slices and significant dysregulation was observed in 37 lipids after ischemia-reperfusion injury, primarily in the cortex and striatum. DESI-MSI revealed that THSWD improved the abnormal expression of most lipids. DESI-MSI is an effective and intuitive method about studying the changes in lipid levels within spatial brain tissue after ischemic stroke, particularly following treatment with THSWD. This approach provides a unique perspective in exploring the potential mechanism underlying the therapeutic impacts of THSWD on ischemic stroke.