## 1 _Eiditorial_  
Special Issue \"Nature or Synthetic Compounds for Treating Arterial Thromosis and Ischemic Stroke\"  
**[PERSON] 1,2 and [PERSON] 2,*(r)**  
Stroke is the second main cause of mortality and morbidity globally. It has been estimated that approximately 80% of strokes are affected by focal cerebral ischemia due to arterial occlusion, while up to 20% are caused by intracerebral hemorrhages. In roughly one-third of ischemic stroke patients, embolism to the brain is caused by the heart, particularly atrial fibrillation. The thrombocpholic occlusion of major or multiple smaller intracerebral arteries results in the focal impairment of the downstream blood flow and in secondary thrombus formation within the cerebral microvasculature. Research shows that it is necessary to employ exogenous natural drugs to counter cerebral ischemia. Currently, there are few effective neuroprotective agents that can be used for treating ischemic stroke. There have been abundant efforts taken to improve stroke outcome through the use of antiplatelet and anticoagulants. This Special Issue is intended to invite research as well as review papers concerning thromboembolic stroke treatment by using natural and synthetic compounds. This Special Issue has collected and published a total of eight papers, including seven original contributions and one review paper, on the different aspects of stroke treatment. One paper in this issue investigated the inhibitory effect of pterostilbene (PTE), a natural sellionoid present in citrus types of fruits, and a dimethylated analog of resveratrol in NF-kB-mediated signal events, the effect of which was compared with that of standard NF-kB inhibitors [1]. The authors found that PTE inhibited platelet aggregation by diminishing NF-kB signaling molecules, including IKK, \(\mathrm{IxB\alpha}\), and \(\mathrm{p65}\) phosphorylation, and reversed \(\mathrm{IxB\alpha}\) degradation. In this paper, these authors also found that PTE showed more potent activity than the NF-kB inhibitor, BAY11-7082, in an vivo acute pulmonary thromboembolism model. They determined a distinctive activation pathway of NF-kB and Akt, which are involved in PTE-mediated antiplatelet aggregation. Overall, they demonstrated that PTE could act as a dominant prophylactic and as clinical therapy for cardiovascular diseases. [PERSON] et al. [2] proved the potential anti-oxidative and anti-inflammatory mechanisms of the same compound PTE. They discovered that PTE reduced the pro-inflammatory activation of macrophages via the NF-kB/ERK signaling pathway-mediated attenuation of pro-inflammatory mediators (iNOS and NO) and cytokines (TNF-c and IL-1). PTE was also found to regulate lipoteichoic acid (LTA)-induced inflammatory actions by elevating the activity of enzymatic (catalase) and non-enzymatic (reduced glutathione) antioxidants or by increasing the protein expression of heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) [2]. This study suggested that PTE displays anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory effects in LTA-stimulated RAW 264.7 cells via the regulation of antioxidants as well as NF-kB/ERK signaling pathways. Regarding anti-inflammatory effects, [PERSON] et al. [3] also reported that platonin, a cyanine photosensitizing dye, improves inflammatory responses in vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) by controlling NF-kB and the AP-1 signaling pathways in LPS/IFN-induced and ox-LDL-induced vascular inflammation, respectively. Another interesting paper published by [PERSON] et al. [4] investigated the antioxidative role of TQ-6, a ruthenium (II)-compound, [Ru(1) 6-cymene)2-(1H-benzothazol-2-yl)-quinoline CI]BF4 in cell-freeand RAW 264.7 cell model systems. They demonstrated that TQ-6 scavenged DPPH, hydroxyl, galvinoxyl, and superoxide free radicals. Moreover, they found that TQ-6 showed anti-inflammatory action by inducing Nrf2/HO-1 pathway in vitro [4]. [PERSON] et al. [5] provided an inhibitory activity of magnolol, 1 (a traditional Chinese medicine) on thrombin and PAR-1 (protease-activated receptor 1).