Therapeutic effects of Qishen Yiqi Dropping Pill on myocardial injury induced by chronic hypoxia in rats / 中国天然药物

The present study was designed to determine the effects of a traditional Chinese medicine, called Qishen Yiqi Dropping Pill on chronic hypoxia-induced myocardial injury. To establish a rat chronic hypoxia model to be used in the evaluation of the therapeutic effects of the Qishen Yiqi Dropping Pill, Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were randomly divided into three groups: the control, model, and treatment groups (n = 10 per group). The animals were housed in a plexiglass container. The control animals were under normal oxygen concentration and the model and treatment groups were exposed to air and nitrogen for 5 weeks. The rats in the treatment group were orally administered the Qishen Yiqi Dropping pill (35 mg·kg(-1)·d(-1)) for 5 weeks. After the treatment, the cardiac function and morphology were analyzed, and the expression levels of hypoxia-inducible factor 1α (HIF-1α) were determined using Western blotting. Our results indicated that the cardiac function was impaired, cell apoptosis was enhanced, and HIF-1α expression was up-regulated in the model group, compared to the control group. These changes were ameliorated by the treatment with the Qishen Yiqi Dropping Pill. In conclusion, Qishen Yiqi Dropping pill can ameliorate myocardial injury induced by chronic hypoxia, improve cardiac function, and decrease myocardial cell apoptosis, which may provide a basis for its clinical use for the treatment of chronic cardiovascular diseases.

Long-term effects of bone marrow-derived cells transplantation in patients with acute myocardial infarction: a meta-analysis / 中华医学杂志(英文版)

<p><b>BACKGROUND</b>The long-term effects of bone marrow-derived cells (BMC) transplantation in patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) have not been established. The present meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials with follow-up ≥ 2 years was performed to investigate the long-term effects of BMC therapy in patients after AMI.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Specific terms were used to conduct a systematic literature search of MEDLINE, EMBASE, the Cochrane Library and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, and the China Biological Medicine Disk database from their inception to March 2012. A standardized protocol was used to extract information, and random effect model was used to analyze all data except major adverse events.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Five trials comprising 510 patients were included. Compared with controls, BMC therapy significantly improved left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) (4.18%, 95%CI: 2.02% to 6.35%, P = 0.0002), while mildly but not significantly reduced left ventricular end-systolic volume (-4.47 ml, 95%CI: -10.92 to 1.99, P = 0.17) and left ventricular end-diastolic volume (-2.29 ml, 95%CI: -9.96 to 5.39, P = 0.56). Subgroup analysis revealed that significant improvement of LVEF induced by BMC therapy could be observed in patients with baseline LVEF ≤ 42%, but disappeared in those with baseline LVEF > 42%. There were trends in favor of BMC therapy for most major clinical adverse events, though most differences were not significant.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Intracoronary BMC infusion in patients with AMI seems to be safe and may further improve LVEF on top of standard therapy; especially the beneficial effects could last for long term. The findings need to be validated in the future.</p>

Effect and mechanism of Qishen Yiqi Pills on adriamycin- induced cardiomyopathy in mice / 中国天然药物

AIM@#To study the effect and probable mechanism of Qishen Yiqi Pills on adriamycin (ADR)-induced cardiomyopathy in mice.@*METHODS@#Sixty-four mice were randomly divided into (1) the ADR group: saline (1 mL/100 g) administered every day by intragavage, ADR (4 mg·kg(-1)) administered to each mouse by intraperitoneal injection twice a week for four weeks; (2) the ADR + Qishen Yiqi Pills I group: ADR (4 mg·kg(-1)) administered to each mouse by intraperitoneal injection twice a week for four weeks, and at the beginning of the third week Qishen Yiqi Pills (3.5 mg/100 g) administered by intragavage every day for four weeks; (3) the ADR + Qishen Yiqi Pills II group: ADR (4 mg·kg(-1)) administered to each mouse by intraperitoneal injection twice a week for four weeks, and at the same time Qishen Yiqi Pills (3.5 mg/100 g) administered by intragavage every day for four weeks; (4) the control group: saline (1 mL/100 g) administered every day by intragavage, saline (1 mL·kg(-1)) administered to each mouse by intraperitoneal injection twice a week for four weeks. Six weeks later, cardiac function, myocardial pathology, and expression of Bcl-2 and Bax were evaluated.@*RESULTS@#1. The left ventricular diastolic diameter and the left ventricular systolic diameter were significantly increased (P < 0.05) and the left ventricular ejection fraction was significantly decreased (P < 0.05) in the ADR group, and the cardiac function of both the ADR + Qishen Yiqi Pills I group and the ADR + Qishen Yiqi Pills II group improved. 2. Myocardial morphologic observation showed that the myocardial fibers were disordered, there was cell edema, and gap widening in the ADR group. The degree of myocardial cell injury was reduced in the ADR + Qishen Yiqi Pills I group and ADR + Qishen Yiqi Pills II group compared with the ADR group. 3. The expression of Bax in the ADR group was significantly up-regulated, and the expression of Bcl-2 was significantly downregulated in the ADR group compared with the ADR + Qishen Yiqi Pills I group, the ADR + Qishen Yiqi Pills II group, and the control group (P < 0.05).@*CONCLUSIONS@#Qishen Yiqi Pills can effectively improve the cardiac function of ADR-induced cardiomyopathy, and the earlier it is used is better. The probable mechanism of action may be the inhibition of the apoptosis of myocardial cells.