RESUMO
OBJECTIVE: To investigate the clinical efficacy of coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) plus trimetazidine (TMZ) in treating acute viral myocarditis (AVMC) and the combination's influence on the oxidative stress markers and the patients' quality of life (QoL). METHODS: This retrospective analysis enrolled 156 patients with AVMC admitted to the Department of Cardiology of the Affiliated Hospital of Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine between February 2018 and February 2019. Based on the treatment method each patient was administered, the patients were classified into a control group (n=72, CoQ10 therapy) and a combination group (n=84, CoQ10+TMZ therapy). The clinical effectiveness was observed in the two groups two weeks after the treatment, and the changes in the patients' serum inflammatory factor levels, oxidative stress indexes, myocardial enzyme levels, and cardiac function were compared. RESULTS: The combination group had a far superior total effective rate than the control group (90.5% vs. 77.8%, P<0.05). After the treatment, the serum inflammatory factor levels, including tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin-8 (IL-8), and C-reactive protein (CRP), decreased in both groups, and the index levels in the combination group were significantly better than they were in the control group (P<0.05). The oxidative stress indicators, such as superoxide dismutase (SOD), malondialdehyde (MDA) and nitric oxide (NO), improved more significantly in the combination group compared to the control group (P<0.05). The myocardial zymogram creatine kinase (CK), cardiac troponin (cTnI), creatine kinase isoenzyme MB (CK-MB), and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) levels were reduced in the two groups, with lower levels in the combination group. The left ventricular systolic function and the patients' QoL were better in the combination group compared with the control group (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: CoQ10 plus TMZ yields a favorable clinical effectiveness in the treatment of AVMC, and it can effectively promote cardiac function recovery, alleviate oxidative stress and inflammatory reactions, and bolster patients' QoL.