【Objective】 To investigate the effects of formononetin (FMN) on cardiomyocyte apoptosis and HSP90/AKT in rats with dilated cardiomyopathy-mediated heart failure. 【Methods】 Echocardiography, ELISA, histological staining, and TUNEL staining were used to observe the protective effect of different doses of FMN on dilated cardiomyopathy-mediated heart failure in rats and the apoptosis of cardiomyocytes. The potential targets of formononetin on dilated cardiomyopathy-mediated heart failure were obtained from TCMSP, DisGeNet, GeneCards, and other databases, the key targets were obtained according to the protein-protein interaction (PPI) network, and the key targets were verified by molecular docking. Western blotting was used to further verify the regulatory role of key targets in the treatment of dilated cardiomyopathy-mediated heart failure with formononetin. 【Results】 Formononetin could reduce the levels of LVIDS, LVIDD, NT-pro BNP, cTn-T, CK, CK-MB, and LDH in rats with dilated cardiomyopathy-mediated heart failure, increase the levels of EF and FS, and reduce the apoptosis of cardiomyocytes. FMN had a strong binding effect on 10 key targets (AKT1, HSP90AA1, CASP3, MAPK1, MMP9, SRC, ALB, HRAS, IGF1, and EGFR) screened by network pharmacology, with HSP90AA1 and AKT1 having the strongest binding effect. Formononetin decreased the expression of HSP90, AKT and downstream CASP3 protein, but increased the expression of p-AKT in myocardial tissue. 【Conclusion】 Formononetin may inhibit the expression of HSP90, promote phosphorylation of AKT to p-AKT, and inhibit the expression of CASP3, thereby reducing the apoptosis of cardiomyocytes and improving myocardial tissue damage, so as to achieve the purpose of treating dilated cardiomyopathy-mediated heart failure.

ObjectiveTo evaluate the quality of research and evidence related to antihypertensive Chinese patent medicines combined with western medicines for the treatment of hypertension， synthesize and update the evidence， form expert consensus， and provide evidence for clinical decision-making. MethodThe databases of China National Knowledge Infrastructure （CNKI）， WanFang Data Knowledge Service Platform （WanFang）， Vip Chinese Science and Technology Journal Database （VIP）， Chinese Biomedical Literature Service System （Sinomed）， National Library of Medicine （PubMed）， Cochrane Library， Web of Science， and US Clinical Trials Registry were searched for randomized controlled trials of antihypertensive Chinese medicine combined with western medicine for the treatment of hypertension from database construction to July 31， 2022. The quality of the literature was evaluated using the bias risk assessment tool in Cochrane Handbook 6.3. Evidence synthesis of main outcome indicators was performed using R software. The Grading of Recommendations Assessment， Development， and Evaluation profiler （GRADEprofiler） 3.6 was employed to evaluate the quality of evidence. Expert consensus was formed based on the Delphi method after two rounds of voting. Result64 pieces of literature were included， and the results of literature quality evaluation and risk of bias showed that 70.31% （45/64） of the studies indicated some risks， and 29.69% （19/64） indicated high risks. Compared with conventional western medicines， the combination of Chinese patent medicines with western medicines can significantly lower systolic pressure （SBP） and diastolic pressure （DBP）， increase the effective rate of antihypertensive， reduce the incidence of adverse reactions， endothelin-1， and traditional Chinese medicine syndrome scores. Egger's test showed that Songling Xuemaikang capsules reduced SBP and DBP. Tianma Gouteng granules reduced SBP and DBP and increased the effective rate of antihypertensive， and Xinmaitong capsules reduced SBP and increased the effective rate of antihypertensive， without significant publication bias. Songling Xuemaikang capsules increased the effective rate of antihypertensive， and Xinmaitong capsules decreased DBP， with significant publication bias. The results of the GRADE evidence quality evaluation showed that most evidence was at grades B and C. Finally， four strong recommendations and 14 weak recommendations were formed. ConclusionCompared with conventional western medicines for the treatment of hypertension， antihypertensive Chinese patent medicines combined with western medicines have advantages in reducing blood pressure and improving drug use safety， but they are mostly weak recommendations in terms of efficacy， and more high-quality evidence is needed.