Taohong Tongluo granules improve coronary microvascular dysfunction by inhibiting NLRP3/ASC/caspase-1 pathway
10.16781/j.CN31-2187/R.20240723
- VernacularTitle:桃红通络颗粒通过抑制NLRP3/ASC/caspase-1通路改善冠状动脉微循环障碍
- Author:
Ying ZHANG
1
;
Jingjing FA
;
Mingzhu WANG
;
Xunjie ZHOU
;
Ke LI
;
Shuyan HUANG
;
Ke WU
;
Aoli CHEN
;
Deyu FU
Author Information
1. 上海中医药大学附属普陀医院心内科,上海 200062;上海中医药大学附属岳阳中西医结合医院心病科,上海 200437
- Keywords:
coronary microvascular dysfunction;
coronary heart disease;
percutaneous coronary intervention;
Taohong Tongluo granules;
NLRP3 inflammasome
- From:
Academic Journal of Naval Medical University
2025;46(10):1363-1370
- CountryChina
- Language:Chinese
-
Abstract:
Objective To investigate the cardiac protective effect of Taohong Tongluo granules on coronary microvascular dysfunction(CMD)rats.Methods SD rats were randomly assigned to sham-operated group,CMD group,nicorandil group(5 mg/kg),or Taohong Tongluo granule group(50 mg/kg).Animals were administered corresponding drugs for 7 d according to the grouping,and the CMD model was prepared 2 h after the last administration.The rat CMD model was induced by injecting embolization microspheres(diameter 40-120 μm,approximately 1 000 microspheres)into the left ventricular cavity.Twenty-four hours after modeling,echocardiography was performed to measure the left ventricular ejection fraction(EF),fractional shortening(FS),and end-diastolic volume(EDV).The damaged myocardial area was assessed by 2,3,5-triphenyltetrazolium chloride(TTC)staining.Myocardial morphological changes were observed by hematoxylin-eosin(H-E)staining.The protein expression levels of NOD-like receptor family pyrin domain containing protein 3(NLRP3),apoptosis-associated speck-like protein(ASC),and cysteine aspartic acid specific protease(caspase)-1 in rat myocardial tissue were detected by immunohistochemical staining and Western blotting.Results Echocardiography showed that the EF and FS values in the Taohong Tongluo granule group,CMD group,and nicorandil group were significantly lower than those in the sham-operated group(all P＜0.001).The EF and FS values in the Taohong Tongluo granule group and nicorandil group were significantly higher than those in the CMD group(all P＜0.01).However,there were no significant differences in EDV among the groups(all P＞0.05).H-E staining showed no abnormalities in the myocardium in the sham-operated group.The CMD group exhibited microsphere embolism in the myocardium,myocardial cell dissolution and rupture,and inflammatory infiltration.The lesions in the nicorandil group and the Taohong Tongluo granule group were relatively milder,and the number of thrombi in both groups was lower than that in the CMD group(both P＜0.01).The results of TTC staining indicated that the areas of damaged myocardial regions in both the nicorandil group and the Taohong Tongluo granule group were smaller than that in the CMD group(P＜0.05 or P＜0.01).Moreover,the area in the Taohong Tongluo granule group was smaller than that in the nicorandil group(P＜0.05).The results of immunohistochemical staining showed that in the CMD model,the expression of ASC and caspase-1 proteins,as well as the number of positive cells for these proteins,was increased and was distributed in myocardial and interstitial cells.The numbers of ASC and caspase-1 positive cells in the Taohong Tongluo granule group were lower than that in the CMD group(both P＜0.01).The Western blotting showed that the expression levels of NLRP3,ASC,and caspase-1 proteins in the Taohong Tongluo granule group were all lower than those in the CMD group(all P＜0.05).Conclusion Taohong Tongluo granules can improve cardiac function,ameliorate hemodynamic parameters,and reduce myocardial infarction area in rats with CMD induced by microsphere embolism.The mechanism is related to the inhibition of myocardial inflammasome activation,thereby attenuating the myocardial injuries.
