X indening oral liquid improves cardiac function of rats with chronic cardiac failure via TGF-ß1/Smad3 and p38 MAPK pathway

Traditional Chinese medicine for heart failure with preserved ejection fraction: clinical evidence and potential mechanisms

Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction accounts for a large proportion of heart failure, and it is closely related to a high hospitalization rate and high mortality rate of cardiovascular disease. Although the methods and means of modern medical treatment of HFpEF are becoming increasingly abundant, they still cannot fully meet the clinical needs of HFpEF patients. Traditional Chinese medicine is an important complementary strategy for the treatment of diseases in modern medicine, and it has been widely used in clinical research on HFpEF in recent years. This article reviews the current situation of HFpEF management, the evolution of guidelines, the clinical evidence and the mechanism of TCM in the treatment of HFpEF. The purpose of this study is to explore the application of TCM for HFpEF, to further improve the clinical symptoms and prognosis of patients and to provide a reference for the diagnosis and treatment of the disease.

QSKL protects against myocardial apoptosis on heart failure via PI3K/Akt-p53 signaling pathway

The ancient traditional Chinese medicine Qishenkeli (QSKL) is widely used in the treatment of heart failure (HF) in China. Previous studies have shown that QSKL has definite effects on HF. The purpose of this study is to identify the regulation of QSKL on apoptosis and clarify the underlying mechanism. An apoptosis model of H9C2 cells was induced by oxygen-glucose deprivation/recovery (OGD/R). An animal model of HF was induced by ligation of left anterior descending (LAD) coronary artery in rat. We found that QSKL reduced intracellular ROS generation, increased mitochondrial membrane potential and protected H9C2 cells against OGD/R-induced apoptosis. In vivo results showed that QSKL administration could improve cardiac functions, decrease fibrotic area, infarct size and apoptotic rate in HF model. QSKL regulated the expressions of key apoptotic molecules, including increasing Bcl-2/Bax ratio, reducing the expressions of P53, Bax and Cleaved-caspase-3. Interestingly, QSKL also regulated the phosphorylated expressions of PI3K and Akt without significantly affecting PTEN. Taken together, the protective and anti-apoptotic effects of QSKL could be mediated partly through modulating the PI3K/Akt-P53 apoptotic pathway.