《金匮要略》当归芍药散主治妇人腹痛，近年来较多用于脑缺血性疾病，具有多重神经保护作用，这和其活血利水的功用密切相关；前期研究表明本方能促进缺血性中风亚急性期的神经功能恢复，促进血管新生、神经再生，而其偏重活血的配伍增加了神经干细胞的迁移，我们提出假说：当归芍药散活血、利水的不同配伍对脑缺血损伤血管新生和神经再生具有不同的贡献度。本项目拟运用分子生物学、动物影像学、免疫组织化学、药理学等技术手段，1)深入研究当归芍药散活血、利水不同配伍对脑缺血损伤的神经保护及血管新生、神经再生的贡献度；2）探讨当归芍药散活血、利水不同配伍对血管新生及神经再生调控因子的影响规律及活血、利水不同配伍各自作用的分子靶点。以期从微观层次上解读中药复方的效应机制，丰富中医活血利水法在脑血管病治疗的内涵，并为当归芍药散在临床的优化配伍及缺血性脑血管病的治疗提供理论及实验依据。

Danggui Shaoyao San (DSS) is a famous herbal formulary from the <Synopsis of The Golden Chamber >, which alleviates female abdominal pain. However, the formula is now increasingly used for cerebral ischemic diseases and shows multiple neuroprotective effects, which is considered to be closely related to its ‘blood activating’ and ‘body fluid transportation and transformation’ actions. Our previous study indicated that DSS improved neurological functional recovery in the subacute stage in ischemic stroke rats by enhancing angiogenesis and neurogenesis. Further study showed that the combination of DSS ingredients that has a ‘blood activating’ action can promote neural stem cell migration. Based on these preliminary results, we hypothesize that the different combinations of DSS ingredients can influence angiogenesis and neurogenesis after cerebral ischemic injury through ‘blood activating’ and/or ‘body fluid transportation and transformation’ actions. Our aims are to: 1) Determine the effects of the different combinations of DSS ingredients on the regulation of angiogenesis and neurogenesis; 2) Analyze the underlying molecular pathways contributing to those effects. We will use molecular biology techniques, animal imaging, immunohistochemistry, and pharmacological tools to study the aims. We expect that this study will not only deepen our fundamental knowledge of DSS, but also contribute to the optimization of the different combinations of DSS ingredients for clinical application.