BACKGROUND:Modern pharmacological studies have confirmed that Buyang Huanwu Decoction could expand blood vessels,improve microcirculation,decrease oxidative stress,Inflammation and platelet activation,so protect and improve the function of endothelial cells.But its certain mechanism is still unclear,especially for its impact on the restenosis of the coronary artery after percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty(PTCA).OBJECTIVE:To investigate the protective effects of Jiawei Buyang Huanwu Decoction on vascular stenosis and oxidative stress after balloon injury of rabbit iliac artery.METHODS:New Zealand rabbits,were randomized and divided into three groups,control group,model group and drug group respectively.Rabbits of control group were fed with common forage,but model group and drug group fed with high fat diet.Two weeks later,the iliac arteries were injured by balloon for model group and drug group.Meanwhile drug group were fed with Jiawei Buyang Huanwu Decoction after the operation,2 mL/kg per day.Control group underwent sham operation control.At the end of4 weeks,serum samples were stored to assay the levels of cholesterol,activity of superoxide dismutase(SOD)and levels of malondialdehyde(MDA).Injured iliac artery was fixed by neural formalin to observe the endothelial hyperplasia by light microscope,and the results were analyzed by picture analysis system.Differences of measurement were compared with one-way analysis of variance as well as repetitive measurements analysis of variance.RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:Iliac artery intima was thin,with Intact structure,without arteriosclerosis In the control group.The vascular lumina were narrower,intima was thicker and there were more enormous arteriosclerosis plaques in model group rabbits.The plaque thickness was reduced and stenosis was mild in drug group.TotaI cholesterol,triglyceridemia,low-density lipoprotein of cholesterol(LDL-C)and MDA levels were significantly lower in the drug group compared with the model group.whereas high-density lipoprotein of cholesterol(HDL-C)and serum SOD levels were significantly greater than the model group(P<0.05).The results showed that Jiawei Buyang Huanwu Decoction has significant preventive effect on intimal hyperplasia and the development of artherosclerosis in rabbits with iliac artery injury,and the mechanism of which may be related to modifying lipid metabolism and cleaning oxygen free radical anti-oxidative stress.