Compound Danshen Dripping Pills pretreatment protects the heart from ischemia/reperfusion injury by enhancing autophagic flux

Abstract Compound Danshen Dripping Pills (CDDPs) have been used in clinical treatment to protect the heart from ischemia/reperfusion (IR) injury for many years. However, the underlying mechanism implicated in the protective effects remains to be explored. Here, we determined the effects of CDDPs in Sprague-Dawley rats with the IR model. Cardiac function in vivo was assessed by echocardiography. Transmission electron microscopy, histological and immunohistochemical techniques, Western blotting and recombinant adeno-associated virus 9 transfection were used to illustrate the effects of CDDPs on IR and autophagy. Our results showed that pretreatment with CDDPs decreased the level of serum myocardial enzymes and infarct size in rats after IR. Apoptosis evaluation showed that CDDPs significantly ameliorated the cardiac apoptosis level after IR. Meanwhile, CDDPs pretreatment increased myocardial autophagic flux, with upregulation of LC3B, downregulation of p62, and increased autophagosomes and autolysosomes. Moreover, the autophagic flux inhibitor chloroquine could increase IR injury, while CDDPs could partially reverse the effects. Furthermore, our results showed that the activation of AMPK/mTOR was involved in the cardioprotective effect exerted by CDDPs. Herein, we suggest that CDDPs partially protect the heart from IR injury by enhancing autophagic flux through the activation of AMPK/mTOR.

A randomized controlled study on an integrated approach to prevent and treat re-adhesion after transcervical resection of moderate-to-severe intrauterine adhesions

OBJECTIVES: This study aims to compare the clinical efficacy of an integrated approach to prevent and treat the recurrence of moderate-to-severe intrauterine adhesions (IUA) after hysteroscopic transcervical resection of adhesion (TCRA). METHODS: The study included a total of 70 patients with moderate-to-severe IUAs who underwent TCRA. Patients were randomly divided into two groups: treatment group (n=35) and control group n=35). In the treatment group, patients underwent balloon uterine stent placement and artificial cycle as well as received intrauterine perfusion of Danshen injection and oral Chinese medicine. In the control group, patients underwent balloon uterine stent placement and artificial cycle as well as received hyaluronic acid sodium and intrauterine device (IUD). Follow-up was performed after treatment of uterine cavity, menstruation and pregnancy. RESULTS: After 3 months of treatment, we observed a significantly lower rate of intrauterine re-adhesion (45.71% versus 77.14%, p=0.044) and significantly higher clinical efficiency (82.86% versus 77.14%, p=0.025) in the treatment group than those in the control group. After 6 months of treatment, we observed a significantly higher clinical efficiency in the treatment group than that in the control group (88.57% versus 68.57%, p=0.039). During the follow-up period, the pregnancy rate was 45.71% and 37.14% in the treatment group and control group, respectively, although the difference was not statistically significant (p=0.628). CONCLUSIONS: After surgical management of IUA, the integrated treatment combining a uterus stent placement and artificial cycle with Danshen injection and oral Chinese medicine can improve the condition of menstruation, and prevent and treat recurrence of IUA.