OBJECTIVETo study the clinical efficacy of Fuzheng Jiedu Granule (FJG) in coronary heart disease (CHD) patients in long term contact with nickel (Ni) and its effect on electrocardiogram (ECG) and cardial enzymes.

METHODSSixty cases were randomly assigned to two groups with 30 cases in each group, the treatment group treated with FJG plus Western medicine and the control group given Western medicine alone. The therapeutic course in both groups was 4 weeks. Another 15 healthy subjects from the same region were taken as the healthy control. Changes of clinical symptoms and ECG were observed, and the serum levels of creatine kinase (CK), lactic acid (LD), lactic dehydrogenase (LDH), Na+-K+-ATPase, Ca2+-ATPase and Ni were detected before and after treatment.

RESULTSThe ameliorative effects on symptoms, signs and ECG in the treatment group were superior to those in the control group (P<0.05). Compared with healthy subjects, the serum levels of CK, LD, LDH and Ni were higher and the serum levels of Na+-K+-ATPase and Ca2+-ATPase were lower in patients before treatment; after treatment, the decrease of serum CK, LD, LDH and Ni levels and increase of serum Na+-K+-ATPase and Ca2+-ATPase were more significant in the treatment group than those in the control group (P<0.05 or P<0.01).

CONCLUSIONFJG can decrease the serum Ni level, recover the activity of myocardial enzymes, thus to improve symptoms and abnormal ECG figures in CHD patients.