Yi-Qi-Huo-Xue decoction alleviates intracerebral hemorrhage injury through inhibiting neuronal autophagy of ipsilateral cortex via BDNF/TrkB pathway

Background Yi-Qi-Huo-Xue Decoction (YQHXD), a traditional Chinese medicine formula, has demonstrated efficacy in the clinical treatment of intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) for over a decade. Nevertheless, the precise pharmacotherapeutic compounds of YQHXD capable of penetrating into cerebral tissue and the pharmacological underpinnings of YQHXD remain ambiguous. Methods The active components of YQHXD in rat brains was analyzed by ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry. The potential targets, pathways and biological progresses of YQHXD ameliorating ICH induced injury was predicted by network pharmacology. Moreover, collagenase-induced ICH rat model, primary cortex neurons exposed to hemin and molecular docking were applied to validate the molecular mechanisms of YQHXD. Results Eleven active components of YQHXD were identified within the brains. Employing the Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) databases, our investigation concentrated on the roles of autophagy and the BDNF/TrkB signaling pathway in the pharmacological context. The pharmacological results revealed that YQHXD alleviated neurological dysfunction, brain water content, brain swelling, and pathological injury caused by ICH. Meanwhile, YQHXD inhibited autophagy influx and autophagosome in vivo, and regulated cortex neuronal autophagy and TrkB/BDNF pathway both in vivo and in vitro. Subsequently, N-acetyl serotonin (NAS), a selective TrkB agonist, was employed to corroborate the significance of the BDNF/TrkB pathway in this process. The combination of NAS and YQHXD did not further enhance the protective efficacy of YQHXD in ICH rats. Additionally, outcomes of molecular docking analysis revealed that nine compounds of YQHXD exhibited potential regulatory effects on TrkB. Conclusions Ipsilateral neuronal autophagy and BDNF/TrkB pathway were activated 72h after ICH. YQHXD effectively resisted injury induced by ICH, which was related with suppression of ipsilateral neuronal autophagy via BDNF/TrkB pathway. This study provides novel insights into the therapeutic mechanisms of traditional Chinese medicine in the context of ICH treatment.