Effect of Xinfeng Capsule (新风胶囊) on the cardiac function in patients with rheumatoid arthritis

Abstract

To study the changes in cardiac function of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients and: to observe the effect of xinfeng capsule ( XFC) on them. Sixty-eight RA patients were: randomly assigned to two groups by a lottery: 38 patients in the treatment group treated orally with XFC, 3 capsules, thrice a day, and 30 in the control group treated with fengshi gutong capsule (FSGTC), 4 capsules, twice a day, 30 days as one course of treatment, and two courses were given for both groups. A normal control (NC) group including 20 healthy subjects was set up. The clinical efficacy was compared between the two treated groups. The changes in cardiac function, including early diastolic peak flow velocity (E), late diastolic peak flow velocity (A), left ventricular fraction shortening (FS), and E/A, as well as uric acid (UA), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), α-acid glycoprotein (α-AGP), and hypersensitive C-reaction protein (hs-CRP), were observed. The regulation T cell was determined with flow cytometry. (1) The total effective rate in the treatment group and the control group was 92.1%: (35/38) and 70.0% (21/30), respectively. Significant difference was shown between them (P<0.05). (2) <Compared with those of the NC group, E peak, E/A ratio, and FS of RA patients were lower (P<0.01), while <A peak was higher (P<0.01). Moreover, A peak of the treatment group after treatment was significantly lower <(P<0.05) and E/A ratio was significantly higher (<P<0.05) as compared with those of the control group. (3) The <improvement in the treatment group in reducing UA and hs-CRP was superior to those of the control group (P<0.05). In addition, the improvement in α-AGP, CD4 <CD4(+)CD25 CD25(+) Treg, and CD4 CD4(+)CD25 CD25(+)CD127 CD127(-)Treg of the treatment group was obvious as compared with the control group, although the difference was not statistically significant. The descendent of cardiac function exists in RA patients. XFC could improve cardiac: function of RA patients, which is superior to FSGTC. Its mechanism may be related to its effect on raising CD4 CD4(+)CD25 CD25(+)Treg and CD4 CD4(+)CD25 CD25(+)CD127(-) Treg cells, decreasing UA, α-AGP, and hs-CRP levels, reducing immune inflammation, adjusting the overall balance of immune response, and thus improving the cardiac function of RA patients.