Fig. 3

Certain intestinal flora metabolites promote post-stroke recovery. Certain foods, such as high-fiber foods, can be metabolized by intestinal flora to produce SCFA, which is transported and absorbed by MCTs and enters the brain, reducing IL-17 + γδ T cells, diminishing activated microglia, and increasing synaptic plasticity; bile acids are transformed by intestinal bacteria into primary bile acids, which are then transformed into secondary bile acids and enter the blood or cross the blood–brain barrier, bind to receptors and upregulate SOD and GPX Tryptophan in food can be metabolized by enterobacteria to indole, which binds to intestinal mucosal aromatic hydrocarbon receptors and promotes the growth rate of human neural progenitor cells (hNPCs) by promoting β-catenin, Neurog2, and VEGF-α expression