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[Effect of Astragalus on cytokines in patients undergoing heart valve replacement]
Feng Wang1, Ming-Di Xiao, Bin Liao
1Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Shanghai Jiao Tong University Affiliated First People's Hospital, Shanghai.
Insights
Astragalus (As) supplementation during heart valve replacement (HVR) surgery reduced inflammatory cytokines like tumor necrosis factor alpha and IL-8. This suggests Astragalus may attenuate the inflammatory response post-HVR.
Area of Science:
- Immunology
- Pharmacology
- Cardiovascular Surgery
Context:
- Heart valve replacement (HVR) surgery often triggers significant inflammatory responses.
- Cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) is a critical component of HVR, associated with systemic inflammation.
- Cytokines play a crucial role in mediating inflammatory and immune responses during and after surgery.
Purpose:
- To investigate the impact of Astragalus (As) administration on key inflammatory cytokines in patients undergoing HVR.
- To assess the levels of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha), interleukin-6 (IL-6), IL-8, and IL-10 during and after HVR with and without Astragalus.
Summary:
- Thirty HVR patients were randomized into Astragalus (As) and control groups.
- Astragalus was administered via CPB prime solution.
- Blood samples were analyzed for cytokine levels (TNF-alpha, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10) at various time points using ELISA.
Impact:
- Astragalus administration significantly reduced levels of TNF-alpha and IL-8 at 3, 6, and 12 hours post-CPB compared to the control group.
- Levels of the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10 were higher in the Astragalus group throughout the study period.
- Results suggest Astragalus may attenuate the inflammatory reaction following HVR by modulating pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines.
Objective:
To evaluate the effect of astragalus (As) on cytokines in patients undergoing heart valve replacement (HVR).
Methods:
Thirty patients undergoing HVR were randomized into the As group and the control group. Cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) was set up routinely and to the As group, As injection (40 mL, 10 mL containing 2 g of crude drug) was added into the prime solution just before CPB. Blood samples were collected at different time points during and after CPB for cytokines determination, including tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha), interleukin-6 (IL-6), IL-8 and IL-10 by ELISA.
Results:
All the indexes measured were insignificantly different between groups before skin incision, they began to increase by the end of CPB (P < 0.05), reached the peak 3 h after CPB and then decreased gradually, TNF-alpha returned to the baseline level 24 h after operation. Meanwhile, levels of IL-6, IL-8 and IL-10 decreased obviously but still above the baseline. Comparisons between groups at different time points showed that levels of IL-6 were not different significantly (P > 0.05), those of IL-10 were higher at all time points, and TNF-alpha and IL-8 at 3 h, 6 h and 12 h after CPB were significantly lower in the As group (all P < 0.05).
Conclusion:
Astragalus may decrease the inflammation cytokine promoting factors, and increase the level of anti-inflammatory cytokine (IL-10), so it could attenuate the inflammation reaction in patients after HVR.
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