Inhibition of vascular calcification by Compound Danshen Dripping Pill through multiple mechanisms

BACKGROUND

Vascular calcification refers to the abnormal accumulation of calcium in the walls of blood vessels and is a risk factor often overlooked in cardiovascular disease. However, there is currently no specific drug for treating vascular calcification. Compound Danshen Dripping Pill (CDDP) is widely used to treat cardiovascular diseases, but its effect on vascular calcification has not been reported.

PURPOSE

We investigated the effects of CDDP on vascular calcification in ApoE-/- mice and in vitro and elucidated its mechanism of action.

STUDY DESIGN

Firstly, we found that CDDP has the potential to improve calcification based on network pharmacology analysis. Then, we performed the following experiments: in vivo, ApoE-/- mice were fed a high-fat diet randomly supplemented with CDDP for 16 weeks. Atherosclerosis and vascular calcification were determined. In vitro, human aortic smooth muscle cells (HASMCs), human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs), and human aortic endothelial cells (HAECs) were used to determine the mechanisms for CDDP-inhibited vascular calcification.

RESULTS

In this study, we observed that CDDP reduced intimal calcification in atherosclerotic lesions of ApoE-deficient mice fed a high-fat diet, as well as the calcification in cultured SMCs and ECs. Mechanistically, CDDP inhibited the Wnt/β-catenin pathway by up-regulating the expression of DKK1 and LRP6, which are upstream inhibitors of Wnt, leading to a reduction in the expression of osteoblastic transition markers (ALP, OPN, BMP2, and RUNX2). Furthermore, CDDP enhanced the secretion of DKK1, which plays a role in mediating EC-SMC crosstalk in calcification. Additionally, VC contributes to vascular aging by inhibiting Sirt1 and increasing senescence parameters (SA-β-gal, p21, and p16). However, CDDP reversed these changes by activating Sirt1. CDDP also reduced the levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines and the senescence-associated secretory phenotype in vivo and in vitro.

CONCLUSIONS

Our study suggests that CDDP reduces vascular calcification by regulating the DKK1/LRP6/β-catenin signaling pathway in ECs/SMCs and interactions with the crosstalk of ECs and SMCs. It also reduces the senescence of ECs/SMCs, contributing to the Sirt1 activation, indicating CDDP's novel role in ameliorating vascular calcification.

Compound Danshen Dripping Pill Promotes Adaptation to Acute High-Altitude Exposure

Li, Zongbin, Jun Guo, Chunwei Liu, Yajun Shi, Yang Li, Jinli Wang, Dandan Li, Jing Wang, and Yundai Chen. Compound Danshen Dripping Pill promotes adaptation to acute high-altitude exposure. High Alt Med Biol. 21:258-264, 2020. Background: In this study, we aimed to investigate whether the traditional Chinese medicine, Compound Danshen Dripping Pill (CDDP), can prevent acute mountain sickness (AMS). We allocated CDDP and matching placebos to 160 volunteers before they ascended to a high altitude. Treadmill exercise tests, echocardiography, blood routine examinations, biochemical analysis, and blood gas analysis were performed upon arrival at high altitude. The primary outcome included incidence of AMS, exercise times, and metabolic equivalents (METs) of treadmill exercise tests. Second endpoints included the heart rates and rate-pressure product (RPP) before and after treadmill exercise tests. Results: After high-altitude exposure, the incidence of AMS in the CDDP group was lower than that in the placebo group (48.6% vs. 67.6%, p = 0.022). The exercise time of the treadmill exercise test was significantly longer (507 ± 77.9 seconds vs. 457 ± 90.8 seconds, p = 0.004), the heart rate was lower (pre-exercise: 91.8 ± 11.7 beats/min vs. 97.2 ± 12.7 beats/min, p = 0.016; postexercise: 114 ± 22.2 beats/min vs. 121 ± 22.6 beats/min, p = 0.019), the pre-exercise and postexercise RPP were lower (pre-exercise: 1.13 × 10⁴ ± 1.68 × 10³ mmHg·beats/min vs. 1.23 × 10⁴ ± 1.84 × 10³ mmHg·beats/min, p = 0.027; postexercise: 1.19 × 10⁴ ± 1.75 × 10³ mmHg·beats/min vs. 1.31 × 10⁴ ± 2.00 × 10³ mmHg·beats/min, p = 0.002), and the MET value of the treadmill exercise test was significantly higher (9.93 ± 1.18 METs vs. 9.31 ± 1.52 METs, p = 0.037) in the CDDP group. Discussion: CDDP decreases the incidence of AMS and enhances exercise tolerance greater than placebo after high-altitude exposure. CDDP decreases the heart rate and myocardial oxygen consumption, increases the levels of hemoglobin, hematocrit, and antioxidant factors, and decreases the levels of inflammatory factors, which may explain the roles of CDDP in improving the adaptation to high-altitude exposure.

iTRAQ-based quantitative proteomics and target-fishing strategies reveal molecular signatures on vasodilation of Compound Danshen Dripping Pills

Angina pectoris can be used as an early warning for coronary artery disease. Vasodilation is an important mechanism of angina pectoris. Traditional Chinese medicine - Compound Danshen Dripping Pill (CDDP) is widely used to improve the symptoms of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). To investigate the influence of vasodilation effect and underlying mechanisms of CDDP, we determined the vasodilation effect of thoracic aorta ring on rat induced by norepinephrine (NE). Then targets-fishing method was used to predict the potential mechanism of CDDP on vasodilation, based on the structures of the main components. Then, iTRAQ-based quantitative proteomics analysis was used for verification of the candidate target proteins and pathways to illustrate the underlying mechanisms. Furthermore, the differentially expressed proteins in the enriched pathways were validated by western blotting. In this study, we found that CDDP could significantly inhibit NE induced aortic contraction tension, and the mechanism may be related to platelet activation, cGMP - PKG signaling pathway and vascular smooth muscle contraction. The method provides a new way to uncover the vasodilation mechanism of CDDP, as well as other multi-component herbal medicines.