Ischemic stroke is a leading cause of death worldwide, bringing about serious lasting disability and considerable social burden.During ischemic stroke, ischemia takes place due to blood flow interruption as a result of cerebral artery blockade and subsequently reperfusion occurs, triggering a complex cascade of molecular events that eventually results in irreversible cell death, affecting functioning of the brain and body.Sometimes vision impairment occurs due to ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury in the retina.Yet, no ideal neuroprotective agents are available, leaving prevention an attractive alternative.Lycium barbarum polysaccharides (LBP), extracts from the wolfberries used commonly as an anti-aging medicine and food supplement, are good for "eye health" according to Chinese medicine.Using a mouse model of focal ischemic stroke, we showed that seven-day oral LBP pre-treatment effectively improved neurological deficits, decreased infarct size and cerebral edema as well as protected the brain from blood-brain barrier disruption, aquaporin-4 up-regulation and glial activation.In retinal I/R, pre-treatment with LBP for one week effectively protected the retina from neuronal death, apoptosis, glial cell activation, aquaporin-4 up-regulation, disruption of brain-retinal barrier, and oxidative stress.Our studies suggest that LBP may be used as a prophylactic neuroprotectant in patients at high risk for ischemic stroke.LBP may also have a neuroprotective role in retinal diseases in which I/R is a feature.