OBJECTIVETo observe the effect of formula of removing both phlegm and blood stasis (TYTZ) in inhibiting the inflammatory reaction in Chinese mini-swine with coronary atherosclerosis.

METHODTotally 36 Chinese mini-swine were randomly divided to six groups: the normal control group, the model group, the Shujiangzhi group and TYTZ groups with does of 2.0, 1.0 and 0.5 g x kg(-1), and six each in every group. Except for the normal control group, all of other groups were fed with high-fat diet for 2 weeks. Interventional balloons are adopted to injure their left anterior descending artery endothelium. After the operation, they were fed with high-fat diet for 8 weeks to prepare the coronary atherosclerosis model. In the 8th week after the operation and administration, the intravascular ultrasound was adopted to observe the coronary artery plaque burden of each group and the pathological morphology of coronary artery. Such inflammatory factors as high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha and interleukin (IL)-6 were detected by ELISA. The expression of NF-kappaB p65 nuclear translocation was observed by the immunohistochemical method.

RESULTCompared with the normal control group, the model group showed significant increase in the coronary artery plaque burden at the end of the experiment (P < 0.01), notably abnormal structural changes in atherosclerotic vascular tissues, luminal stenosis, a large number of foam cells and inflammatory cell infiltration, remarkable growth of hs-CRP, TNF-alpha and IL-6 levels (P < 0.01). The immunohistochemical staining also showed the significant increase in the NF-kappaB p65 nuclear translocation of coronary artery of Chinese mini-swine in the model group. Compared with the model group, TYTZ could significantly attenuate atherosclerotic plaque burden (P < 0.01), inhibit the coronary luminal stenosis, reduce inflammatory cell infiltration, decrease such inflammatory cell factors as hs-CRP, TNF-alpha and IL-6 in serum, and inhibit the NF-kappaB p65 nuclear translocation of coronary artery (P < 0.05 or P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONTYTZ can reduce the downstream inflammatory reaction by controlling NF-kappaB p65 nuclear translocation, so as to inhibit the occurrence and development of coronary atherosclerotic plaque in Chinese mini-swine.