The Synergistic Effects of Astragalus mongholicus and Salvia miltiorrhiza on Coronary Heart Disease Identified by Network Pharmacology and Experiment

• Published in: Drug design, development and therapy Vol. 15; pp. 4053 - 4069
• Main Authors: Zhang, Yun, Wang, Jie, Liu, Yong-Mei, Chen, Yin-Ying, Yang, Xiao-Chen, Duan, Lian
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New Zealand Dove Medical Press Limited 01.01.2021; Taylor & Francis Ltd; Dove; Dove Medical Press
• Subjects: Analysis; Angina pectoris; Animals; Astragalus mongholicus; Astragalus propinquus; Biological activity; Blood coagulation; Cardiac function; Cardiovascular disease; Cardiovascular diseases; Chinese medicine; Circulatory system; Coagulation; Coronary artery; Coronary artery disease; Coronary Disease - drug therapy; coronary heart disease; Coronary vessels; Disease Models, Animal; Drug Synergism; Drug therapy; Drugs, Chinese Herbal - administration & dosage; Drugs, Chinese Herbal - pharmacology; EKG; Electrocardiogram; Electrocardiography; Fibrosis; Genes; Heart; Heart attack; Heart attacks; Heart diseases; Heart enlargement; Herbal medicine; Homeostasis; Hyperlipidemia; Hypertrophy; Laboratory animals; Lipid metabolism; Lipids; Male; Medicine, Chinese; Myocardial infarction; Myocardial Infarction - drug therapy; Myocardium; Network Pharmacology; Original Research; Pharmacology; Rats; Rats, Sprague-Dawley; Salvia miltiorrhiza; Stroke Volume - drug effects; Synergistic effect; synergistic effects; Traditional Chinese medicine; Type 2 diabetes; Ultrasonic testing; Veins & arteries; Ventricular Function, Left - drug effects; Viscosity; United States; China; Beijing China; United States > US; Astragalus mongholicus; Salvia miltiorrhiza; coronary heart disease; network pharmacology; synergistic effects; myocardial infarction
• ISSN: 1177-8881; 1177-8881
• DOI: 10.2147/DDDT.S326024

Two Chinese herbal medicines Huang Qi (HQ, ) and Dan Shen (DS, ) are often combined to treat coronary heart disease (CHD). The purpose of this study was to identify the underlying synergistic effects and mechanisms of HQ and DS against CHD. The active components and targets of HQ and DS, CHD-related genes, and the biological progression were analysed by network pharmacology. The myocardial infarction (MI) rat model was established by ligating the left anterior descending coronary artery. Cardiac function was detected by ultrasonic electrocardiography. The MI size, fibrosis, cardiac hypertrophy, lipid metabolism, blood viscosity, and coagulation indexes were analysed by histological staining or chemical methods, respectively. A total of 170 shared and specific seed genes of HQ and DS against CHD were identified. The shared and specific biological processes of HQ and DS against CHD were obtained. The LVEF and LVFS values significantly increased, the myocardium infarct size and fibrosis significantly decreased, the values of lipid metabolism indexes and blood viscosity indexes significantly reduced in the HQ + DS treatment group vs HQ or DS single treatment ( < 0.05); the LVEDd, LVEDs, and the CSA values significantly reduced in HQ single and HQ + DS treatment groups vs MI group ( < 0.05); the coagulation index (APTT, PT, TT, and FIB) values decreased significantly in the DS single and HQ + DS treatment groups vs MI group ( < 0.05). In MI rats, HQ and DS exhibited synergistic effects on improving cardiac function, reducing MI size, fibrosis, regulating hyperlipidaemia, and maintaining circulatory system homeostasis; HQ had the specific advantage of alleviating cardiac remodelling; DS had the specific advantage of regulating hypercoagulability. This study revealed that HQ and DS not only exerted synergistic effects but also exhibited complementary effects on CHD.