Title: Effects of Radix Astragali seu Hedysari (黄芪)and/or ligustrazine (川芎嗪)on levels of plasma endotoxin and endothelin-1 in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and blood stasis syndrome(血瘀证)
Abstract: To approach the action of endotoxin (ETx) and endothelin-1 (ET-1)in the pathogenesis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and blood stasis syndrome (血瘀证, a syndrome in traditional Chinese medicine). Methods One hundred and fifty COPD patients with diagnostic criteria of blood stasis syndrome were randomly divided into 5 groups: Radix Astragali seu Hedysari (黄芪) group(MM group), ligustrazine (川芎嗪) group (Li group), Radix Astragali seu Hedysari plus ligustrazine group (MM plus Li group), negative control group or conventional treatment group and heparin control group, respectively. Simultaneously, a normal healthy control group was set up as control group. The plasma ETx and ET-1 were observed before and after 1, 2 and 4 weeks of treatment, and their correlative regression analyses were made before and after the treatment. Results Compared with the normal healthy control group, the ETx and ET-1 levels elevated obviously in COPD patients (all P0.01). After 4 weeks of treatment, as compared to the initial stage before the treatment, the ETx and ET-1 had been declined obviously (all P0.01), but the ET-1 level was still obviously higher than that in the conventional treatment group (P0.05). Plasma ET-1 level in COPD patients was positively correlated with ETx, r=0.401 (before therapy) and 0.544 (after therapy), separately (both P0.01). Along with the prolongation of therapeutic course, the levels of ETx and ET-1 in each treatment group tended to be decreased markedly (P0.05 or P0.01) ;after 2 weeks of treatment, the ETx was reduced more significantly in MM group and MM plus Li group than that in the conventional treatment group,so did ET-1 in Li group and MM plus Li group after 2 and 4 weeks of treatment (all P0.05). Conclusion ETx may activate vascular endothelium system, leading to the increase of ET-1 secretion in COPD patients and directly effecting the patho-physiological changes in cases with COPD accompanied with blood stasis syndrome. The treatment of invigorating Qi (益气) and promoting blood (活血) circulation can effectively eliminate plasma ETx, lower plasma ET-1 level and protect the function of endothelium.
Publication Year: 2008
Publication Date: 2008-01-01
Language: en
Type: article
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