Effect and Mechanism of Dendrobii Officinalis Caulis in Intervening and Preventing Myocardial Fibrosis in Rats with Heart Failure and Heart Qi Deficiency Syndrome After Ischemia-reperfusion / 中国实验方剂学杂志

Objective:To investigate the expressions of cardiac cycle, myocardial pathology, galectin-3 (Gal-3),transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β),Smad homologue 3 recombinant protein (Smad3) in rats with heart failure and heart failure after ischemia-reperfusion, and the intervention effect of Dendrobii Officinalis Caulis (DOC) myocardial fibrosis in model rats. Method:A rat model of heart failure and Qi deficiency was established through ligation of the left anterior descending coronary artery. The rats were divided into blank group, model group, valsartan group (9.43 mg·kg-1) and DOC group (10 mg·kg-1), with 10 in each group. The blank group and the model group were given an equal volume of physiological saline. The changes in left ventricular end-diastolic diameter (LVEDD), left ventricular end-systolic dimension(LVESD), left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), left ventricular fractional shortening (LVFS) of the cardiac cycle of rats in each group were recorded by high-resolution ultrasound system. The carboxyterrninal propeptide of type I procollagen (PICP), and carboxyterrninal propeptide of type Ⅲ procollagen (PⅢNP)were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kit. The morphological changes of myocardial cells were observed by hematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining. The changes of myocardial fiber tissue and collagen were observed by Masson staining. Western blot was used to detect the protein expressions of Gal-3, TGF-β, Smad3. Result:Compared with the blank group, the levels of LVEDD, LVEF, and LVFS were lower in the model group (PPβ, and Smad3 were decreased (PPPPβ and Smad3 were lower than those in the model group (PPConclusion:DOC can effectively inhibit myocardial fibrosis in rats with heart failure and heart Qi deficiency syndrome after ischemia-reperfusion. The mechanism may be correlated with the reduction of the expressions of Gal-3, TGF-β and Smad3.

A preliminary study on the medical expenditure of Chinese medicine and integrative medicine treatment for influenza A (H1N1) in the fever clinics / 中国结合医学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To analyze the effectiveness of Chinese medicine and integrated Chinese and Western medicine for influenza A (H1N1) in the fever clinics and its relevant expenditure.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>A prospective survey on the clinical epidemic observation and follow-up was conducted from July 2009 to October 2009 with a self-developed questionnaire whose contents including the clinical data of the confirmed 149 H1N1 cases and their relevant therapeutic expenditure. The patients were assigned to the Chinese medicine group (22 cases treated by Chinese medicine alone) and integrative medicine group (124 cases treated by both Chinese medicine and Western medicine). The data were processed with descriptive analysis, t test and χ (2), and sum-rank test.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The proportion of clinical recovery of Chinese medicine group (81.8%) was higher than that of integrative medicine group (54.8%) with statistical significance (P=0.02). The average fever durations in both groups were 3.5 to 4 days, showing no significant difference (P=0.86). In the comparisons of average cost of Chinese herbs, drugs, therapies, and total cost, those of the Chinese medicine group were lower than those in the integrative group (P=0.01, P=0.00, P=0.00, P=0.00).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>The H1N1 patients in the fever clinic who received Chinese medicine treatment had a higher clinical recovery proportion than those who received integrated Chinese and Western medicine treatment with lower medical cost. However, due to small sample size of the Chinese medicine group in the study, the conclusion needs further confirmation by studies with large sample size.</p>

Effects of Tongguan Capsule on post-myocardial infarction ventricular remodeling and cardiac function in rats / 中国结合医学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To observe the effects of Tongguan Capsule (TGC) on post-myocardial infarction ventricular remodeling and heart function in rats.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>A rat model of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) was established by coronary ligation. Experimental rats were randomized to 4 groups including three model groups (Group A: captopril 5 mg/kg * day, n=7; Group B: TGC 10 g/kg * day, n=7; and Group C: placebo, n=8), and a sham-control group (Group D: blank control, n=6). Animals were treated for 4 weeks. The cardiac function of rats was assessed at the end of the experiment based on left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) and left ventricular short axis fractional shortening (LVFS) detected by colored echocardiography; meanwhile, the condition of ventricular remodeling was observed through the levels of left ventricular mass (LVM), plasma aldosterone (ALD), myocardial angiotensin II (Ang II) and myocardial collagen measurements.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>At the end of the experiment, LVEF and LVFS in Group A and B were improved significantly, while those in Group C were unchanged, the LVEF in Group A, B, C, and D was 0.57+/-0.46, 0.61+/-0.08, 0.36+/-0.55 and 0.76+/-0.02, respectively; and their LVFS was 0.31+/-0.52, 0.34+/-0.04, 0.23+/-0.57 and 0.45+/-0.03, respectively. The difference was statistically significant when comparing the two indexes in Group A and B with those in Group C and D (P<0.05). LVM, levels of plasma ALD and myocardial Ang II were lower in Group A and B than in Group C, but a comparison between Group A and B showed an insignificant difference in lowering LVM and ALD, while the lowering of Ang II was more significant in Group B than in Group A (754.7 +/- 18.7 pg/mL vs 952.6+/-17.6 pg/mL, P<0.05). Morphological examination showed that in Group A and B the swollen myocardial cells had shrunk, with regularly arranged myocardial fibers and decreased collagen proliferation, but the improvements in Group B were more significant.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>TGC could markedly improve the post-infarction ventricular remodeling and cardiac function in rats, showing that the efficacy was better than or equal to that of captopril.</p>

Effect of Tongguan capsule on post-intervention patients of coronary heart disease with qi-deficiency and blood stasis syndrome / 中国中西医结合杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To observe the effect of Tongguan Capsule (TGC), a Chinese herbal preparation for supplementing qi and activating blood circulation, in patients after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) with qi-deficiency and blood stasis syndrome.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>One hundred patients after successful PCI operation were assigned to two groups, 50 in each group. Western routine therapy with anti-thrombosis and anti-coagulant agents were applied in all patients before, during and after operation, while to the patients in the treated group, TGC was given additionally. The therapeutic course for both groups was one month. The efficacy was evaluated by observing the effect on angina pectoris, main TCM syndromes and scores of qi-deficiency syndrome and blood stasis syndrome at 3 time points (the day before, 3 days and 30 days after operation).</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The total effective rate in relieving angina pectoris was 96.0% (48/50) in the treated group and 92.0% (46/50) in the control group, showing insignificant difference between them (P > 0.05). The score of qi-deficiency in both groups raised 3 days after PCI as compared with that before PCI, but showed no statistical significance (P > 0.05); 30 days after PCI, it increased in the control group, as compared with that before PCI (P < 0.05). The score of blood stasis syndrome significantly lowered at the 3rd and the 30th day after PCI in both groups as compared with before PCI, showing statistical significance (P < 0.05); while in comparing the value at the 3rd day with that at the 30th day, the difference showed significance in the treated group but not in the control group (P < 0.05); and comparison between the two groups at the 30th day showed it was much lower in the treated group (P < 0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>TGC could significantly improve the clinical symptoms of qi-deficiency and blood stasis syndrome in patients after PCI.</p>

Study on changes of TCM syndrome in patients with coronary heart disease before and after intervention treatment / 中国中西医结合杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To observe the changing laws of TCM syndrome type in patients with coronary heart disease (CHD) before and after intervention treatment (IT) and to explore the influence of IT on TCM syndrome type.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The TCM syndrome type of 71 patients with "Chest-Bi" was differentiated before and after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) treatment, of which the most common syndrome types were qi deficiency, yang deficiency, yin deficiency, qi stagnation, blood stasis, phlegm, cold coagulation, heat-syndrome, etc.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Before PCI treatment, syndrome types of blood stasis (53 cases, 74.6%), qi deficiency (46 cases, 64.8%), and phlegm (28 cases, 39.4%) were the commonest, while there were 12 cases of qi stagnation (16.9%) and 12 cases of cold coagulation (16.9%); One week after PCI treatment, the most commonly seen types were blood stasis (47 cases, 66.2%), qi deficiency (39 cases, 54.9%) and phlegm (23 cases, 32.4%), while qi stagnation (2 cases, 2.8%) and cold coagulation (1 case, 1.4%) were also found; One month after PCI, qi deficiency (47 cases,85.4%), blood stasis (40 cases,72.7%), phlegm (31 cases, 56.4%) were the most commonly seen types. Comparison of the syndrome types between before and after PCI showed that the syndromes of qi deficiency and phlegm were progressively aggravating, while syndromes of qi stagnation and cold coagulation were alleviated after PCI.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Although PCI treatment could relieve patients' symptoms of excess in superficiality, it can't radically change the pathogenetic nature of CHD, namely, the deficiency in origin and excess in superficiality, which indicates that one should pay full attention to the importance and necessity of CHD after PCI treatment.</p>