Cardiac protection of new compounds from scientific Chinese medicine (SCM)

Objective Purification and Standardization of Chinese herbal extracts became a hot topic since last decade.Though traditional Chinese medicine(TCM)has been used as a mixture from several herbs for centuries,it has been drawn much attention for studying the standardized Chinese herbs using modern technology.Methods Recently,we compared purified Salvia miltiorrhiza extract(PSME)with angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor,Ramipril,in in vitro experiments and also in vivo using animal model of myocardial infarction.Results PSME was found to have a significantly higher trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity which indicated a great capacity for scavenging free radicals.PSME could also prevent pyrogallo red bleaching and DNA damage.After 2 weeks treatment with PSME or Ramipril,survival rates of rats with experimental myocardial infarction were marginally increased(68.2% and 71.4%)compared with saline(61.5%).In another recent study,we evaluated the cardioprotective effects of PSME on myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury in isolated rat hearts and in hypoxic vascular smooth muscle cells.We found that PSME treated hearts showed significant postischemic contractile function recovery(develop pressure recovered to 44.2±4.9% versus 17.1±5.7%,P<0.05;maximum contraction recovered to 57.2±5.9% versus 15.1±6.3%,P<0.001;maximum relaxation restored to 69.3±7.3% versus 15.4±6.3%,P<0.001 in PSME and control group respectively).Conclusions Significant elevated in end-diastolic pressure,which indicated LV stiffening in PSME hearts might be resulted by exceed dose of PSME used.Purified and standardized Chinese herb could provide an alternative regimen for the prevention of ischemic heart disease.