ABSTRACT
Objective To observe the effect of Shenmai injection combined with enteral nutrition (EN) on immune function in patients with severe cardiac insufficiency. Methods Fifty-seven patients with severe cardiac insufficiency admitted to the Department of Critical Care Medicine of Taizhou Hospital of Zhejiang Province from June 2015 to June 2018 were divided into an EN group (31 cases) and an EN group combined with Shenmai injection group (26 cases). The EN group was given EN on the basis of routine western medicine treatment, while in the EN combined with Shenmai injection group was treated additionally by intravenous drip of Shenmai injection 100 mL/d on the basis of above EN group treatment. The efficacies of the two groups were evaluated after consecutive 7-day treatment in the two groups. The changes in levels of subsets of T-lymphocytes (CD3+, CD4+, CD8+, CD4+/CD8+) and immunosuppressive cells CD14+ monocyte human leukocyte antigen DR (HLA-DR) were observed before and after treatment. Results After treatment, the levels of T-cell subsets CD3+, CD4+, CD4+/CD8+ and CD14+ monocytes HLA-DR in the peripheral blood of the two groups were significantly higher than those before treatment [CD3+: EN group was 0.539±0.126 vs. 0.379±0.093,Shenmai injection group was 0.652±0.185 vs. 0.393±0.091; CD4+: EN group was 0.402±0.121 vs. 0.275±0.066,Shenmai injection group was 0.524±0.168 vs. 0.281±0.077; CD4+/CD8+:EN group was 1.83±0.70 vs. 1.11±0.70,Shenmai injection group was 2.81±0.91 vs. 1.19±0.58; CD14+HLA-DR:EN group was (43.3±7.1)% vs. (35.4±5.7)%,Shenmai injection group was (54.9±6.2)% vs. (36.1±8.3)%]; After treatment, CD8+ in EN group decreased (0.223±0.052 vs. 0.253±0.081), while CD8+ in shenmai injection group increased (0.288±0.051 vs. 0.259±0.078), and the increase degrees of the above-mentioned indexes in EN combined with Shenmai injection group were more obvious than those in the EN group after treatment [CD3+: 0.652±0.185 vs. 0.539±0.126, CD4+: 0.524±0.168 vs. 0.402±0.121, CD8+: 0.288±0.051 vs. 0.223±0.052, CD4+/CD8+: 2.81±0.91 vs. 1.83±0.70, CD14+HLA-DR: (54.9±6.2)%, (43.3±7.1)%, all P < 0.05]. Conclusion The combined use of Shenmai injection and early EN can improve the immune function of T-lymphocytes in patients with severe cardiac insufficiency. The mechanism may be related to the enhancement of the activation of T lymphocytes and promotion of the CD14+ monocytes increase and immune function.