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OBJECTIVE: To investigate the underlying mechanism of reduced myocardial ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury in rats using the traditional Tibetan medicine Sanweitanxiang powder (SWTX).METHODS: Rats were randomly divided into six groups (n = 10) as follows: (a) propranolol dinitrate control group, given propranolol dinitrate 0.02 g/kg for 10 days before I/R, (b) SWTX with a high dose group, given SWTX 1.5 g/kg for 10 days before I/R, (c) SWTX with a medium dose group, given SWTX 1.25 g/kg for 10 days before I/R, (d) sham group (Sham), in which the rat heart was exposed by pericardiotomy but without I/R, (e) SWTX with a low dose group, given SWTX 1.0 g/kg for 10 days before I/R, and (f) I/R injury group. Rats were intragastrically pretreated with propranolol dinitrate or SWTX. After that, the operation to cause ischemia and reperfusion was conducted. The histopathologic changes of rat hearts were observed by hematoxylin and eosin staining and transmission electron microscopy. Ca2+ homeostasis protein expression was determined by western blot. RESULTS: After SWTX pretreatment, the development of ultrastructural pathological changes from IR injury was attenuated. A decrease in the expression of B-cell lymphoma 2 associated X protein, and an increase in the expression of B-cell lymphoma 2 were observed. An increased activation of extracellular signal regulated kinases were found. Compared with the sham group, the expression of sarcoplasmic reticulum calcium-ATPase, phospholamban, and calsequestrin were all up-regulated after pretreatment with SWTX. CONCLUSION: The protective mechanism of SWTX pretreatment on myocardial I/R injury might be related to its effect on maintaining the balance of calcium homeostasis in rat heart.

Abstract Ethnopharmacological relevance Srolo Bzhtang (SBT), a traditional Tibetan medicine formula, was composed of three herbs, Solms-Laubachia eurycarpa , Bergenia purpurascens , Glycyrrhiza uralensis , and one lac, and was first documented in the ancient Tibetan medical work Four Medical Tantras (rGyud-bzhi) in the eighth century AD. It has been widely used to treat lung "phlegm-heat" syndromes such as chronic bronchitis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Objective The aim of this study was to evaluate the potential influences of aqueous extract of SBT on airway inflammation and mucus secretion and to reveal the underlying mechanism in a rat model of cigarette smoke (CS)-induced chronic bronchitis (CB). Materials and methods Sixty male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided to six groups: control (room air exposure), model (CS exposure), DEX (CS exposure and 0.2 mg/kg/day dexamethasone), and three SBT (CS exposure and 1.67, 2.50, and 3.34 g/kg/day SBT) groups. DEX and the three doses of SBT were administered by oral gavage every day for eight weeks. Pathological changes and mucus expression in the lung tissue were determined by hematoxylin and eosin (H&E), Alcian blue-periodic acid-Schiff (AB-PAS) and immunohistochemical staining. The levels of cytokines in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) were assessed by ELISA. Western blot analysis and qRT-PCR were performed to explore the effects of SBT on the expression of IL-13, STAT6 and MUC5AC. Results Pretreatment with SBT attenuated the TNF-α, IL-8, IL-13 expression levels in BALF and the inflammatory cell infiltration in bronchial walls and peribronchial lung tissue. SBT exhibited a dose-dependent downregulation of MUC5AC expression as assessed by AB-PAS and immunohistochemical staining. The protein and mRNA levels of IL-13, STAT6/p-STAT6 and MUC5AC were also downregulated by SBT preconditioning. Conclusion These results for the first time demonstrated that SBT exhibited protective effects on CS-induced airway inflammation and MUC5AC hypersecretion, which might be related to the downregulation of the IL-13/STAT6 signaling pathway. Graphical abstract fx1 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]