Classical Famous Prescription Zhenwutang in Treatment of Chronic Heart Failure： A Review / 中国实验方剂学杂志

ABSTRACT

Chronic heart failure （CHF）， the end stage of heart disease due to a variety of causes， features high disability rate and mortality， which has become a hot spot in cardiovascular field. As recorded in Treatise on Cold Damage（《伤寒论》）， Zhenwutang is composed of Radix Aconiti Lateralis Preparata， Poria Cocos， Rhizoma Atractylodis Macrocephalae， Paeoniae Radix Alba， and Rhizoma Zingiberis Recens. With the functions of warming Yang and excreting water， it is a classical prescription for the treatment of CHF in clinical settings. By searching China National Knowledge Infrastructure （CNKI）， PubMed， Wanfang Data， and VIP， we find Zhenwutang exerts therapeutic effect on CHF through multiple targets and multiple pathways. Experiments show that it alleviates CHF by antagonizing the overactivation of neuroendocrine system， inhibiting immune-inflammatory response， suppressing cardiac remodeling， restricting apoptosis， regulating autophagy， improving myocardial energy metabolism， inhibiting oxidative stress injury， protecting endothelial function， and decreasing volume load. Clinical research shows that Zhenwutang can significantly alleviate the clinical symptoms of CHF patients in a safe manner with little adverse reactions. This paper systematically summarizes the mechanisms of and clinical research on Zhenwutang in the treatment of CHF in recent years， so as to provide theoretical and experimental data for the further research and development of Zhenwutang.