Objective:To explore the funding status and research hotspots of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) for projects in the field of TCM for the prevention and treatment of heart failure.Methods:The research projects of TCM in the prevention and treatment of heart failure funded were retrieved from NSFC Big Data Knowledge Management Service Platform from January 1, 2010 to December 31, 2023. Excel 2022 software was used to analyze the data of the number of funded projects, the amount of funding, the supporting units and the regions. VOSviewer 1.6.20 software was used to analyze the co-occurrence of keywords with frequency≥3.Results:A total of 202 research projects were funded with a total funding amount of 89.8 million RMB, and the number and amount of projects showed a fluctuating upward trend. The funding categories were mainly general programs and youth science foundation projects. There were 42 supporting units involved, and TCM universities and colleges were the main recipients of funding. Regional distribution was uneven, mainly in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangdong and other regions. There were 17 secondary discipline codes involved, and the discipline categories were concentrated in Internal Medicine of TCM (H3108), Clinical Basis of Integrative Medicine (H3302) and Cardiovascular Pharmacology of Chinese Medicine (H3209). Therapeutic modalities covered compounding, monomers, proprietary Chinese medicines, and drug pairs, and research hotspots included aspects of myocardial energy metabolism remodeling, mitochondrial autophagy, macrophage polarization, endoplasmic reticulum stress, calcium homeostasis, ferroptosis, exosomes, micro-RNAs, and so on.Conclusion:NSFC has provided strong support to the research in the field of TCM for heart failure. In the future, the supporting units should pay attention to the interdisciplinary integration and development to promote the vigorous development of TCM.

Myocardial fibrosis （MF） is a common pathological manifestation of various heart diseases. Due to the non-renewable nature of myocardial cells， the occurrence of MF represents irreversible damage to the myocardium. Previous studies have suggested that fibroblast-mediated collagen deposition is the main mechanism of MF. Recent studies have found that there is an immune regulation mechanism in the heart itself， and macrophage activation/polarization plays an important role in MF. With the deepening of traditional Chinese medicine research， scholars have found that traditional Chinese medicine can interfere with MF by regulating the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system （RAAS） system and the inflammatory process， repairing the extracellular matrix， managing oxidative stress， and maintaining the balance of autophagy. This process is closely related to the activation and M1/M2 polarization of macrophages. Throughout the MF process， macrophage activation is beneficial， but excessive activation will be harmful. In the early stage of MF， appropriate M1 macrophage polarization is conducive to activating immunity and removing harmful substances. In the middle and late stages of MF， appropriate M2 macrophage polarization is conducive to remodeling the damaged myocardium. If macrophage activation is excessive/insufficient， or the balance of M1/M2 macrophage polarization is broken， the effect changes from improvement to destruction. Traditional Chinese medicines that regulate the activation/polarization of macrophages have the effects of replenishing Qi and nourishing Yin， as well as regulating Qi and activating blood， but there are also some heat-clearing， dampness-drying， and detoxification products. Therefore， the occurrence of MF may be caused by Qi and Yin deficiency， damp heat accumulation， and Qi stagnation and blood stasis. By summarizing the biological processes involved in macrophage activation/polarization in MF， this paper expounded on the research progress of traditional Chinese medicine in regulating macrophage activation and M1/M2 polarization from different angles to improve MF， so as to provide a reference for the treatment of MF with traditional Chinese medicine.

OBJECTIVE:To study the effect of Wenyang zhenshuai granules on myocardial MEF2 in model rats with chronic heart failure(CHF). METHODS:10 rats were randomly selected in 60 rats as normal control group(normal saline),the remain-ing 50 rats were randomly divided into model control group (normal saline),positive control group [enalapril,1.8 mg/(kg·d)], Wenyang zhenshuai granules low-dose,medium-dose,high-dose groups [0.72,1.44,2.88 g/(kg·d)] after induced to CHF models by adriamycin,intragastrically administrated twice a day,for 4 weeks. After administration,heart function indexes [left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF),left ventricular fractional shortening (LVFS),left ventricular end-diastolic diameter (LVSD) and left ventricular end-diastolic diameter(LVDD)] of rats in each group were detected,protein expressions of myocardial MEF2 and phos-phorylated MEF2 (p-MEF2) and mRNA expression of MEF2 were determined. RESULTS:Compared with normal control group, LVEF,LVFS of rats in model control group and each administration group were significantly reduced (P<0.05),LVSD,LVDD were significantly increased (P<0.05);protein expression of myocardial p-MEF2 was significantly down-regulated (P<0.05), and there were no statistical significances in protein or mRNA expressions of MEF2 (P>0.05). Compared with model control group,heart function indexes of rats in each administration group were significantly improved (P<0.05);protein expression of myocardial p-MEF2 was significantly up-regulated (P<0.05),and there were no statistical significances in protein or mRNA ex-pressions of MEF2(P>0.05). CONCLUSIONS:Wenyang zhenshuai granule can antagonize the down-regulation effect of adriamy-cin-induced MEF2 protein phosphorylation,which may be one of the mechanisms of its treatment for CHF.

s: Objective To establish an HPLC method to determine the contents of ginsenoside Rg1, ginsenoside Re and ginsenoside Rb1 in Wenyang Zhenshuai Granules.Methods The separation was preformed on Agilent TC-C18 column (4.6 mm×250 mm, 5 μm). The mobile phase consisted of acetonitril-0.05% aqueous solution of phosphoric acid with gradient elution (0–35 min, 19% acetonitrile; 35–58 min, 19%–29% acetonitrile; 58–70 min, 28% acetonitrile; 70–100 min, 29%–40% acetonitrile). The flow rate was 1.0 mL/min; the wavelength of detector was 203 nm; the temperature of column was 35℃.Results The calibration curves showed good linearity in the range of 0.22–2.2 μg (ginsenoside Rg1,r=0.9998), 0.22–2.2 μg (ginsenoside Re,r=0.9998) and 0.26–2.6 μg (ginsenoside Rb1,r=0.9991), respectively. The average recoveries of ginsenoside Rg1, ginsenoside Re and ginsenoside Rb1 were 98.04%, 96.58% and 96.75%, respectively.Conclution The method is accurate, hypersensitized and reproducible, which can be applied to the quality control of Wenyang Zhenshuai Granules.