Qi Dan Li Xin pill improves chronic heart failure by regulating mTOR/p70S6k-mediated autophagy and inhibiting apoptosis

• Published in: Scientific reports Vol. 10; no. 1; p. 6105
• Main Authors: Shi, Binhao, Huang, Yuting, Ni, Jingyu, Chen, Jingrui, Wei, Jing, Gao, Hui, Li, Lan, Zhou, Zhengcan, Wang, Yili, Xu, Yunsheng, Xu, Zongpei, Mao, Jingyuan, Fan, Guanwei
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 08-04-2020; Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: 13/2; 13/51; 14/28; 38/1; 38/22; 59/5; 692/4019/592/75/230; 692/700/565/1436/2185; 82/1; Animals; Apoptosis; Autophagy; Beta blockers; Cardiac function; Cardiomyocytes; Cardiotonic Agents - pharmacology; Cardiotonic Agents - therapeutic use; Congestive heart failure; Coronary artery; Drugs, Chinese Herbal - pharmacology; Drugs, Chinese Herbal - therapeutic use; Echocardiography; Heart failure; Heart Failure - drug therapy; Herbal medicine; Humanities and Social Sciences; IL-1β; Inflammation; Interleukin 6; Interleukins - genetics; Interleukins - metabolism; Male; multidisciplinary; Myocardial infarction; Myocardium; Myocytes, Cardiac - drug effects; Myocytes, Cardiac - metabolism; Phagocytosis; Rats; Rats, Sprague-Dawley; Ribosomal Protein S6 Kinases, 70-kDa - metabolism; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Signal transduction; TOR protein; TOR Serine-Threonine Kinases - metabolism; Traditional Chinese medicine; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha - genetics; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha - metabolism; Tumor necrosis factor-α; Ventricle
• ISSN: 2045-2322; 2045-2322
• DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-63090-9

Myocardial remodeling represents a key factor in chronic heart failure (CHF) development, and is characterized by chronic death of cardiomyocytes. Cardiac function changes may be attributed to inflammation, apoptosis and autophagy. This study assessed the effects of Qi Dan Li Xin Pill (QD) on heart function, inflammatory factors, autophagy and apoptosis in cardiac remodeling in CHF rats upon myocardial infarction (MI) induction. Male SD rats underwent a sham procedure or left anterior descending coronary artery (LADCA) ligation, causing MI. Twenty-eight days after modeling, the animals were treated daily with QD, valsartan and saline for 4 weeks. Echocardiography after 4 weeks of drug intervention revealed substantially improved left ventricular remodeling and cardiac function following QD treatment. As demonstrated by decreased IL-1β, IL-6 and TNF-α amounts, this treatment also inhibited the apoptotic process and protected the viability of the myocardium. These outcomes may be attributed to enhanced autophagy in cardiomyocytes, which further reduced pro-inflammatory and pro apoptotic effects. This process may be achieved by QD regulation of the mTOR/P70S6K signaling pathway, suggesting that the traditional Chinese medicine Qi Dan Li Xin pill is effective in heart protective treatment, and is worth further investigation.