Qishen Yiqi Drop Pill, a novel compound Chinese traditional medicine protects against high glucose-induced injury in cardiomyocytes.

OBJECTIVE: Qishen Yiqi Drop Pill (QSYQ) has been recognized as a potential protective agent for various cardiovascular diseases. However, the effect of QSYQ in cardiac complications associated with diabetes is not clear currently. In this study, we investigate whether QSYQ could exert cardiac protective effects against high glucose-induced injuries in cardiac H9c2 cells. METHODS: H9c2 cells were exposed to 24 hours of high glucose in presence or absence of QSYQ and LY294002. Cell cytotoxicity, apoptosis, reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation, mitochondrial membrane potential and mitochondrial permeability transition pore (mPTP) opening were determined. Levels of bax, bcl-2, p53, cleaved caspase-3, PI3K and Akt were evaluated by Western blot. RESULTS: Our data indicated that QSYQ significantly increased the cell viability and decreased cytotoxicity. By analysing the apoptotic rate as well as the expression levels of cytoapoptosis-related factors including cleaved caspase-3, bax, bcl-2, and p53, we found that QSYQ could remarkably suppress apoptosis of cardiomyoblasts caused by high glucose. In addition, it also showed that QSYQ reduced the generation of ROS. We further found that QSYQ treatment could inhibit the loss of mitochondrial membrane potential and mPTP opening. Moreover, Western blot analysis showed enhanced phosphorylation of PI3K/Akt. The specific inhibitor of PI3K, LY294002 not only inhibited QSYQ induced PI3K/Akt signalling pathway activation, but alleviated its protective effects. CONCLUSIONS: In summary, these findings demonstrated that QSYQ effectively protected H9c2 cells against the series injuries due to high glucose at least partially by activating the PI3K/Akt signalling pathway.

Association between Platelet to Neutrophil Ratio (PNR) and Clinical Outcomes in STEMI Patients after Successful pPCI: A Secondary Analysis Based on a Cohort Study.

Purpose: This study was aimed at investigating whether the platelet-to-neutrophil ratio (PNR) is independently related to the prognosis of patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) after successful primary percutaneous coronary intervention (pPCI). Methods: This was a secondary analysis of data retrieved from the DATADRYAD database, which was a prospective cohort study. A total of 464 STEMI patients who underwent successful pPCI were recruited between January 2010 and October 2014. The target-independent variable, PNR, was measured at the baseline. The dependent variable in the current study was the occurrence of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACEs) during the 30-month follow-up. Results: Two patients were excluded from the final analysis because their platelet counts were unavailable. The average age of the 462 participants was 63 ± 11.92 years, and approximately 76.6% were male. After adjusting for age, sex, anterior wall myocardial infarction (MI), history of MI, apelin-12, apelin-12 change rate, left ventricular end-diastolic diameter, peak cardiac troponin I, pathological Q wave, Killip classification grade, fasting blood glucose, albumin, GENSINI score, and estimated glomerular filtration rate, a nonlinear relationship was found between the PNR and MACEs in the included cohort. The threshold value of the PNR for MACEs was 23.1. Over this cutoff value, the incidence rate of MACEs increased by 43% per 10-unit change in PNR (95% CI: 1.16-1.75, p = 0.0006). Conclusion: There was a threshold relationship between PNR and MACEs in patients with STEMI who underwent successful pPCI. The incidence of MACEs was positively associated with the PNR when the PNR exceeded 23.1.

Efficacy of Qishen Yiqi Drop Pill for Chronic Heart Failure: An Updated Meta-Analysis of 85 Studies.

BACKGROUND: Despite evidence for beneficial effects of Qishen Yiqi Drop Pill (QSYQ) on congestive heart failure, the majority of studies are based on insufficient sample sizes. The aim of this study was to evaluate the therapeutic effects of QSYQ using a meta-analysis approach. Methodology/Principal Findings. All relevant studies published before December 31, 2019, were identified by searches of various databases with key search terms. In total, 85 studies involving 8,579 participants were included. The addition of QSYQ to routine Western medicine increased 6-minute walking distance (SMD = 2.08, 95% CI: 1.72-2.44, p < 0.001), left ventricular ejection fraction (SMD = 1.05, 95% CI: 0.87-1.23, p < 0.001), and cardiac index (SMD = 1.44, 95% CI: 0.92-1.95, p < 0.001) and reduced brain natriuretic peptide (SMD = -2.28, 95% CI: -2.81 to -1.76, p < 0.001), N-terminal prohormone of brain natriuretic peptide (SMD = -2.49, 95% CI: -3.24 to -1.73, p < 0.001), left ventricular end-diastolic dimensions (SMD = -0.92, 95% CI: -1.25 to -0.59, p < 0.001), and left ventricular end-systolic dimensions (SMD = -0.55, 95% CI: -0.89 to -0.21, p < 0.001). The results were stable in subgroup analyses and sensitivity analyses. CONCLUSIONS: Our current meta-analysis indicated that QSYQ combined with Western therapy might be effective in CHF patients. Further researches are needed to identify which subgroups of CHF patients will benefit most and what kind of combination medicines work best.