The Synergistic Effects of Astragalus mongholicus and Salvia miltiorrhiza on Coronary Heart Disease Identified by Network Pharmacology and Experiment

Abstract

Background and Purpose

Two Chinese herbal medicines Huang Qi (HQ, Astragalus mongholicus) and Dan Shen (DS, Salvia miltiorrhiza) are often combined to treat coronary heart disease (CHD). The purpose of this study was to identify the underlying synergistic effects and mechanisms of HQ and DS against CHD.

Methods

The active components and targets of HQ and DS, CHD-related genes, and the biological progression were analysed by network pharmacology. The myocardial infarction (MI) rat model was established by ligating the left anterior descending coronary artery. Cardiac function was detected by ultrasonic electrocardiography. The MI size, fibrosis, cardiac hypertrophy, lipid metabolism, blood viscosity, and coagulation indexes were analysed by histological staining or chemical methods, respectively.

Results

A total of 170 shared and specific seed genes of HQ and DS against CHD were identified. The shared and specific biological processes of HQ and DS against CHD were obtained. The LVEF and LVFS values significantly increased, the myocardium infarct size and fibrosis significantly decreased, the values of lipid metabolism indexes and blood viscosity indexes significantly reduced in the HQ + DS treatment group vs HQ or DS single treatment (P < 0.05); the LVEDd, LVEDs, and the CSA values significantly reduced in HQ single and HQ + DS treatment groups vs MI group (P < 0.05); the coagulation index (APTT, PT, TT, and FIB) values decreased significantly in the DS single and HQ + DS treatment groups vs MI group (P < 0.05).

Conclusion

In MI rats, HQ and DS exhibited synergistic effects on improving cardiac function, reducing MI size, fibrosis, regulating hyperlipidaemia, and maintaining circulatory system homeostasis; HQ had the specific advantage of alleviating cardiac remodelling; DS had the specific advantage of regulating hypercoagulability. This study revealed that HQ and DS not only exerted synergistic effects but also exhibited complementary effects on CHD.

Keywords:

• coronary heart disease
• Astragalus mongholicus
• Salvia miltiorrhiza
• synergistic effects
• network pharmacology
• myocardial infarction

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant 81774168 and 81974556). We would like to thank the technologist-in-charge Hai-Feng Cui at the Functional Room of China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences for help of echocardiography measurement.

Abbreviations

HQ, Huang Qi, Astragalus mongholicus; DS, Dan Shen, Salvia miltiorrhiza; CHD, coronary heart disease; MI, myocardial infarction; LVEF, left ventricular ejection fraction; LVFS, left ventricular fractional shortening; LVEDd, left ventricular end-diastolic diameter; LVEDs, left ventricular end-systolic diameter; CSA, cross-sectional area; CVD, cardiovascular disease; VR, ventricular remodelling; TCM, traditional Chinese medicine; TG, triglycerides; Chol, total cholesterol; LDL-C, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol; HDL-C, high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol; WBC, whole blood viscosity; PV, plasma viscosity; HCT, hematocrit; OTE, whole blood viscosity; APTT, activated partial thromboplastin time; PT, prothrombin time; TT, thrombin time; FIB, fibrinogen; ACS, acute coronary syndromes; WGA, wheat germ agglutinin.

Disclosure

The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest regarding the publication of this paper.