Chen et al. (2018) reported that the activation of Sirt1 was associated with increased BBB permeability through AMPK-PGC1. Disruption of BBB and the cerebral edema that follows are the key pathogenic events contributing to neurological dysfunction and cerebral infarct after ischemic stroke (Chen et al., 2018). This evidence concerns the gene PPARGC1A and ischemic stroke.