Traditional formula, modern application: Chinese medicine formula Sini tang improves early ventricular remodeling and cardiac function after myocardial infarction in rats

Abstract

Sini Tang (SNT) is a traditional Chinese herbal formula consisting of four different herbs: the root of Aconitum carmichaelii, the bark of Cinnamomum cassia, the rhizome of Zingiber officinale, and the root of Glycyrrhiza uralensis. This study aims to evaluate the improvement of early ventricular remodeling and cardiac function in myocardial infarction (MI) rats by SNT. A MI model was established by ligation of the left anterior descending coronary artery. Following treatment for 4 weeks, ultrasonic echocardiography was performed. Myocardial histopathological changes were observed using haematoxylin and eosin staining. Collagens (type I and type III), transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1), and Toll-like receptors (TLR-2 and TLR-4) were measured in plasma, serum, and myocardial tissue. SNT treatment decreased the infarct size, the left ventricular cavity area/heart cavity area ratio, and the left ventricle dimension at end systole and increased the left ventricular ejection fraction. SNT reduced the levels of TLR-2 and TLR-4 in myocardial tissue significantly and decreased the collagens content in serum and in myocardial tissue. SNT could partially reduce the level of TGF-β1 in serum and in myocardial tissue. Our data suggest that the Chinese medicine formula SNT has the potential to improve early ventricular remodeling and cardiac function after MI. © 2014 Jiangang Liu et al.