Effect of Prescription Tongxin on Endothelial Progenitor Cells in Peripheral Blood
Insights
Tongxin significantly increased endothelial progenitor cell (EPC) density and function in coronary heart disease (CHD) patients. This prescription medicine demonstrated superior efficacy compared to standard treatment, improving clinical symptoms.
Area of Science:
- Cardiovascular Medicine
- Regenerative Medicine
- Pharmacology
Background:
- Coronary heart disease (CHD) is linked to reduced endothelial progenitor cell (EPC) levels and impaired vascular repair.
- EPCs are crucial for maintaining vascular health and their function reflects the body's repair capacity.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the impact of Tongxin, a CFDA-approved medication, on EPC density and function in patients with CHD.
- To compare the efficacy of Tongxin against a control treatment in improving EPC parameters and clinical outcomes.
Main Methods:
- A randomized, single-blind, parallel-controlled clinical trial involving 48 CHD patients.
- Participants received standard CHD treatments; the intervention group received Tongxin, while the control group received Shexiang Baoxin Pill for 3 months.
- Changes in peripheral blood EPC density and function were assessed at baseline and post-treatment.
Main Results:
- Both Tongxin and control treatments increased EPC density, but Tongxin showed a significantly greater increase.
- Tongxin accelerated EPC proliferation and enhanced their functional vitality more rapidly and significantly than the control.
- The overall effective rate was higher in the Tongxin intervention group.
Conclusions:
- Tongxin effectively stimulates EPC release and proliferation in CHD patients.
- The medication improves EPC function and clinical symptoms, showing greater efficacy than the control treatment.
- Tongxin represents a promising therapeutic option for enhancing vascular repair in coronary heart disease.
Context:
Coronary heart disease (CHD) refers to a disease where coronary atherosclerosis induces stenosis or obstruction of the blood vessels. Endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) function to protect and repair the vascular endothelium, and their functional activity state reflects the ability of the body to repair vascular damage. In the peripheral blood of patients with CHD, the density of EPCs decreases, and the function of EPCs is low.
Objective:
This study aimed to investigate the effects of a China Food and Drug Administration (CFDA)-approved prescription medicine, Tongxin, on the density and function of endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) in peripheral blood.
Design:
In this study, a randomized, single blind, parallel controlled clinical trial was used. The single blind subjects were subjects.
Setting:
The study took place in the Cardiology and Emergency Departments at Shanghai Municipal Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine in Shanghai, China.
Participants:
Participants were 48 patients with coronary heart disease at the hospital.
Intervention:
Participants were randomly divided into 2 groups (n = 24 each): a control group and an intervention group. Both groups received routine drug treatments, such as platelet inhibitors, nitrates, β-receptor blockers, statins, angiotensin-converting-enzyme (ACE) inhibitors, angiotensin II receptor antagonists (ARBs), and calcium blockers. The control group was treated with the Shexiang Baoxin Pill, while the intervention group was treated with prescription Tongxin. The course of treatment was 3 months for both groups.
Outcome Measures:
Changes in the density and function of EPCs in the peripheral blood of the 2 groups were measured at baseline and postintervention, and the clinical efficacy of the 2 treatments was statistically analyzed.
Results:
The density of EPCs was significantly higher in both groups after 3 months of treatment, compared to the densities at baseline (P < .05). The change in density between baseline and postintervention was significantly greater for the intervention group than for the control group (P < .05). For the control group, the proliferative vitality [optical density (OD)] value of the EPCs was significantly higher than that at baseline from the fourth day of treatment (P < .05). In the intervention group, the OD value was significantly higher than that at baseline from the first day of treatment (P < .05). Furthermore, the intervention group's cells began to enter the logarithmic growth phase of increase from the fifth day of treatment, and the group's increase as significantly higher than the control group's from the fifth to the seventh dayof treatment (P < .05 for all 3 days). Moreover, the total effective rate was higher in the intervention group than in the control group (P < .05).
Conclusions:
Prescription Tongxin can stimulate the release of EPCs from the bone marrow to the peripheral blood of patients with CHD, can significantly increase the proliferation of EPCs in the peripheral blood, and can improve the clinical symptoms of patients. Its curative effect was greater than that of the control treatment.
