Effects of Chinese herbs capable of replenishing qi, nourishing yin and activating blood circulation and their compatibility on differentially expressed genes of ischemic myocardium

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of Chinese herbs capable of replenishing qi, nourishing yin and activating blood circulation and their compatibility on differentially expressed genes of ischemic myocardium which were selected from differential expression profile we had established before, and to explore the underlying mechanism. The acute myocardial infarction (AMI) model was established by ligating the left anterior descending (LAD) coronary artery, then the model rats were randomly divided into the model group, the Metoprolol group, the replenishing qi nourishing yin (RN) group, the activating blood circulation (AB) group, and the replenishing qi, nourishing yin and activating blood circulation (RA) group. In addition, the normal group and the sham group were set up. The rats of medication groups were administered by intragastric gavage with corresponding drugs on the second day after operations, and the rats of the normal group and the sham group were given normal saline as the same time.Then the ischemic hearts were harvested on the 8th day after operation. The myocardial pathomorphological changes were observed under a light microscope. The mRNA changes of target genes such as COX5a and ATP5e were detected using Realtime fluorescence quantitative PCR (QPCR), and the activities of related enzymes were detected by colorimetric assay. The main results were as follows: the histological changes were observed by HE staining, and cardiocyte swelling, inflammatory cell infiltration and cytolysis were showed in regional ischemic myocardium of the model group, while the pathomorphological changes in all medication groups did not show obvious changes. Two genes related to energy metabolism, COX5a and ATP5e, were selected as the target genes which were downregulated at the mRNA level in the medication groups. The activities of correlative functional enzymes also decreased in the RA group compared to that in the model group accordingly (P<0.05). The results indicated that the abnormal expression of genes involved in energy metabolism pathways could be one of the molecular mechanisms of AMI. The compatibility of Chinese herbs capable of replenishing qi, nourishing yin and activating blood circulation affects the expression of energyrelative gene COX5a, ATP5e, which is probably the mechanism of myocardial preservation, and is more effective than single herb of replenishing qi and nourishing yin or activating blood circulation.