Qishen granules (QSG) have beneficial therapeutic effects for heart failure, but the effects of decomposed recipes, including Wenyang Yiqi Huoxue (WYH) and Qingre Jiedu (QJ), are not clear. In this study, the efficacy of WYH and QJ on heart failure is evaluated by using transverse aortic constriction (TAC) induced mice and the significantly changed genes in heart tissues were screened with a DNA array. Furthermore, a new quantitative pathway analysis tool is developed to evaluate the differences of pathways in different groups and to identify the pharmacological contributions of the decomposed recipes. Finally, the related genes in the significantly changed pathways are verified by a real-time polymerase chain reaction and a Western blot. Our data show that both QJ and WYH improve the left ventricular ejection fraction, which explain their contributions to protect against heart failure. In the energy metabolism, QJ achieves the therapeutic effects of QSG through nicotinamide nucleotide transhydrogenase (Nnt)-mediated mechanisms. In ventricular remodeling and inflammation reactions, QJ and WYH undertake the therapeutic effects through 5′-nucleotidase ecto (Nt5e)-mediated mechanisms. Together, QJ and WYH constitute the therapeutic effects of QSG and play important roles in myocardial energy metabolism and inflammation, which can exert therapeutic effects for heart failure.

Background. Fibrosis is a highly dynamic process caused by prolonged injury, deregulation of the normal processes of wound healing, and extensive deposition of extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins. During fibrosis process, multiple genes interact with environmental factors. Over recent decades, tons of fibrosis-related genes have been identified to shed light on the particular clinical manifestations of this complex process. However, the genetics information about fibrosis is dispersed in lots of extensive literature. Methods. We extracted data from literature abstracts in PubMed by text mining, and manually curated the literature and identified the evidence sentences. Results. We presented FibroAtlas, which included 1,439 well-annotated fibrosis-associated genes. FibroAtlas 1.0 is the first attempt to build a nonredundant and comprehensive catalog of fibrosis-related genes with supporting evidence derived from curated published literature and allows us to have an overview of human fibrosis-related genes.

Objective: Vascular endothelium plays a fundamental role in regulating endothelial dysfunction, resulting in structural changes that may lead to adverse outcomes of hypertension. The aim of this study was to systematically evaluate the effect of a combination of Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) and Western medicine on vascular endothelial function in patients with hypertension.Methods: We systematically searched the literature for studies published in Chinese and English in PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Chinese Biomedical Literature Database, China Knowledge Resource Integrated Database, Wanfang Data, and China Science and Technology Journal Database. Databases were searched using terms concerning or describing CHM, hypertension, vascular endothelium, and randomized controlled trials. RevMan 5.3.0 was used for data analysis. If the included studies were sufficiently homogeneous, quantitative synthesis was performed; if studies with different sample sizes and blind methods were used, subgroup analyses were performed. GRADEpro was selected to grade the current evidence to reduce bias in our findings.Results: In this review, 30 studies with 3,235 patients were enrolled. A relatively high selection and a performance bias were noted by risk of bias assessments. Meta-analysis showed that the combination of CHM and conventional Western medicine was more efficient than conventional Western medicine alone in lowering blood pressure (risk ratio, 1.21; 95% CI, 1.16 to 1.26) and increasing nitric oxide (95% CI, 1.24 to 2.08; P < 0.00001), endothelin-1 (95% CI, −1.71 to −1.14; P < 0.00001), and flow-mediated dilation (95% CI, 0.98 to 1.31; P <0.00001). No significant difference was observed between the combination of CHM and conventional Western medicine and conventional

Background: Essential hypertension is one of the most common chronic diseases in the world and a major risk factor for cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. Hypertension often leads to a variety of complications, of which vascular endothelial dysfunction is an important part. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) combined with western medicine can significantly improve vascular endothelial function in patients with hypertension, but it has not been systematically evaluated for efficacy and safety of essential hypertension. Therefore, we aim to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis to evaluate the efficacy and safety of TCM combined with western medicine in improving vascular endothelial function in patients with essential hypertension. Methods: We will search PubMed, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), Excerpta Medica Database (EMBASE), China National Knowledge Infrastructure Database (CNKI), Wanfang Database, China Science Journal Database (VIP Database) and China Biomedical Literature Database (CBM). Clinical trial registrations, potential grey literature, related conference abstracts, and reference lists of identified studies will also be retrieved. The electronic database will be searched for literatures published from the beginning to October 2018. Based on the heterogeneity test, data integration is performed using a fixed effect model or a random effects model. Changes in blood pressure and endothelial function will be assessed as primary outcomes. Drug use, disease progression and adverse events will be assessed as secondary outcomes. RevMan V.5.3.5 will be used for meta-analysis. Results: This systematic review and meta-analysis will provide high-quality evidence from a variety of aspects, including efficacy, blood pressure, vascular endothelial function and adverse reactions, to assess the efficacy and safety of TCM combined with western medicine in patients with hypertension. Conclusion: This systematic review will determine whether TCM combined with western medicine provides evidence for effective intervention of vascular endothelial function in patients with essential hypertension. Ethics and dissemination: This systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials does not require ethical recognition, and the results of this paper will be published in an open access, internationally influential academic journal. PROSPERO registration number: CRD42019140743