Clinical study on protective effect of Xinmaitong capsule on damage of vascular endothelial cells

Abstract

To assess the effect of Xinmaitong (XMT) capsule in treating coronary heart disease (CHD). Thirty-eight patients of coronary heart disease with myocardial ischemia were divided randomly into XMT group (20 cases) and control group (18 cases). Conventional western medical therapy was given to both groups and the XMT group received additional XMT treatment. The changes of endothelin (ET) and calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) levels, ST segment of ECG and clinical symptoms after treatment in all the patients were observed. Data of 14 healthy persons were taken as normal control. The ET level of all patients was significantly higher than that of the normal control (P < 0.001), and level of CGRP in patients was not different from normal control significantly (P > 0.05). After treatment, results showed that: (1) The ET levels and the scores of clinical symptoms of both groups decreased significantly (P < 0.01), and ST segment elevated markedly (P < 0.01) as compared with before treatment, and the changes revealed more evident in XMT group in comparison with those of the control group (P < 0.05-P < 0.01). (2) The level of CGRP was significantly increased in XMT group (P < 0.01) while unchanged in the control group (P > 0.05). There is severe damage of vascular endothelial cells in CHD patients. XMT could not only reduce significantly the plasma ET content, but also enhance markedly the production and release of CGRP, so it has a good anti-ischemic effect, which may be closely related with its action on improving the function of vascular endothelial cells and regulating metabolism of ET and CGRP.