TCMs protect against cerebral ischemic injury by inhibiting deleterious transcription factors (NF-κB, JAK/STAT, and JNK/AP-1), activating neuroprotective transcription factors (PPARs and Nrf2/HO-1) and consequently regulating the expression of transcription factor-mediated proinflammatory genes (TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6, IL-8, iNOS, COX-2, PGE2, MMP-9, and ICAM-1) in the ischemic area in the early stage (24–72 h) of cerebral ischemia (Figure 2 and Table 5). This evidence concerns the gene MMP9 and brain ischemia.