Research Progress of Herb Pair Rhizoma Coptidis-Fructus Evodiae

The herb pair is the basic form of compatibility and application of traditional Chinese medicine.Herb pairs have the advantages of simple structure,clear compatibility and effective characteristics,and are suitable for scientific research.Rhizoma Coptidis-Fructus Evodiae is a relatively fixed combination of two herbs commonly used in clinical Chinese medicine.Chinese medicine uses it to treat various diseases caused by damp-heat accumulation in the liver and gallbladder,and spleen and stomach.The two medicines in the herb pair are opposite in nature but complement each other,and can achieve a great effect based on simple combination.Modern research shows that the herb pair has a wide range of pharmacological effects and good anti-tumor,analgesic,bacteriostatic and anti-inflammatory activity,and show good curative effects on stress ulcers,functional dyspepsia,chronic colitis,etc.This paper reviewed the research progress on the herb pair of Rhizoma Coptidis-Fructus Evodiae.

Astragali Radix-Notoginseng Radix et Rhizoma medicine pair prevents cardiac remodeling by improving mitochondrial dynamic balance

Astragali Radix(AR) and Notoginseng Radix et Rhizoma(NR) are frequently employed in cardiovascular disease treatment. However, the efficacy of the AR-NR medicine pair(AN) in improving cardiac remodeling and its underlying mechanism remains unclear. This study aimed to evaluate AN's cardioprotective effect and potential mechanism on cardiac remodeling using transverse aortic constriction(TAC) in mice and angiotensin II(Ang II)-induced neonatal rat cardiomyocytes(NRCMs) and fibroblasts in vitro. High-performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole-time of flight tandem mass spectrometry(HPLC-Q-TOF-MS/MS) characterized 23 main components of AN. AN significantly improved cardiac function in the TAC-induced mice. Furthermore, AN considerably reduced the serum levels of N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide(NT-pro BNP), cardiac troponin T(CTn-T), and interleukin-6(IL-6) and mitigated inflammatory cell infiltration. Post-AN treatment, TAC-induced heart size approached normal. AN decreased cardiomyocyte cross-sectional area and attenuated the upregulation of cardiac hypertrophy marker genes(ANP, BNP, and MYH7) in vivo and in vitro.Concurrently, AN alleviated collagen deposition in TAC-induced mice. AN also reduced the expression of fibrosis-related indicators(COL1A1 and COL3A1) and inhibited the activation of the transforming growth factor-β1(TGF-β1)/mothers against decapentaplegic homolog 3(Smad3) pathway. Thus, AN improved TAC-induced cardiac remodeling. Moreover, AN downregulated p-dynamin-related protein(Drp1)(Ser616) expression and upregulated mitogen 2(MFN-2) and optic atrophy 1(OPA1) expression in vivo and in vitro, thereby restoring mitochondrial fusion and fission balance. In conclusion, AN improves cardiac remodeling by regulating mitochondrial dynamic balance, providing experimental data for the rational application of Chinese medicine prescriptions with AN as the main component in clinical practice.