Background: Sodium tanshinone IIA sulfonate (STS) injection, the extractive of traditional Chinese medicine Danshen, is supposed to be a supplementary treatment in hypertensive nephropathy. Objectives: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of STS in treatment of hypertensive nephropathy. Methods: We systematically searched China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Chinese Scientific Journals Database (VIP), Wan-fang database, Chinese Biomedicine Database (CBM), PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and Cochrane Library from their inception to December 2018. All studies were screened by two reviewers according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria independently. The Cochrane Collaboration's risk tool was used to assess the methodological quality of the included studies. Reviewer Manager 5.3 was employed for statistical analysis. Results: Sixteen trials involving 1,696 patients were included. The meta-analysis results indicated a combination of STS and angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) was more effective than ARB monotherapy in modulating hypertensive nephropathy, as represented by improved estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) [mean difference (MD) = 6.87, 95% CI (4.47, 9.28), P < 0.00001] and reduced 24 h urinary protein [MD = −0.23, 95% CI (−0.27, −0.19), P < 0.00001], serum creatinine (SCr) [MD = −21.74, 95% CI (−24.11, −19.38), P < 0.00001], cystatin-C [MD = −0.16, 95% CI (−0.24, −0.07), P = 0.0003], urinary immunoglobulin G (IgG) [MD = −0.85, 95% CI (−1.11, −0.59), P < 0.00001], and urinary transferrin [MD = −0.61, 95% CI (−1.04, −0.17), P = 0.007]. In addition, the combination therapy had better control in systolic blood pressure (SBP) [MD = −6.53, 95% CI (−8.19, −4.87), P < 0.00001] and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) [MD = −4.14, 95% CI (−5.69, −2.59), P < 0.00001]. Only three trials reported adverse events, and no adverse drug reactions were observed.

AimsThe association of strictly defined metabolic healthy obese (MHO) with subclinical cardiac function was unclear. Our study aims to examine the role of MHO in subclinical cardiac dysfunction in a Chinese population. Methods and resultsThe study subjects were recruited from Danyang from 2017 to 2019. Obesity was defined by body mass index (BMI) categories (normal weight, overweight and obesity). Metabolic health was strictly defined as having neither any of the guidelines recommended metabolic syndrome components nor insulin resistance. Thus, subjects were grouped by BMI categories and metabolic health status as six groups. Preclinical systolic (global longitudinal strain [GLS]) and diastolic function were assessed by 2D speckle tracking, and transmitral and tissue Doppler imaging, respectively. The 2757 participants (mean age ± standard deviation, 52.7 ± 11.7 years) included 1613 (58.5%) women, 999 (36.2%) obese, 2080 (75.4%) metabolically unhealthy and 93 (3.4%) MHO participants. After adjustment for covariates, the trend was similar for left ventricular (LV) ejection fraction (P trend ≥ 0.07) but significantly worse for GLS, e0 and E/e0 (P trend ≤ 0.02) across the six groups or passing from normal weight to obese individuals irrespective of metabolic status. MHO participants had lower GLS (20.4 vs. 21.4%) and e0 (9.6 vs. 10.6 cm/s) compared with controls (P < 0.0001) but had similar GLS (P = 0.47) compared with metabolically unhealthy obese (MUO). Regardless of obesity status, metabolically unhealthy participants had worse diastolic function compared with their metabolically healthy counterparts (P ≤ 0.0004). Compared with controls, MHO individuals were at higher risk of subclinical LV systolic dysfunction (OR = 3.44, 95% CI = 1.25-9.49, P = 0.02). These results were robust to sensitivity analysis. Conclusions MHO was substantially associated with worse subclinical systolic function although early diastolic dysfunction seemed to be more accentuated in MUO.

Background: In recent years, the incidence rate of hypertensive nephropathy has been increasing quickly, which has been a major threat to people's health. Renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system blockers have certain curative effects. However, there are some patients having serious adverse reactions, and the benefit population is limited, so the treatment of hypertensive renal damage is necessary to have beneficial supplement. More and more clinical studies have shown that ginkgo leaf extract and dipyridamole injection (GDI) combined with antihypertensive drugs has achieved good results in the treatment of hypertensive renal damage. It is supposed to be a supplementary treatment in hypertensive nephropathy. Objectives: To systematically assess the efficacy and safety of GDI combined with antihypertensive drugs on hypertensive renal injury. Methods: Seven databases including PubMed, Cochrane Library, Embase, Wanfang database, China biomedical literature service system (Sino Med), VIP Chinese Sci-tech journal database (VIP), and China national knowledge internet (CNKI) were retrieved to collect randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in the experimental group containing combined therapy of hypertensive nephropathy with GDI and antihypertensive drugs. The retrieval time was from the establishment of database to July 8, 2020. Two researchers independently selected literature, extracted data, and evaluated the risk of bias in the study. The methodological quality was evaluated with Cochrane handbook and meta-analysis was performed with Stata 14.0 software. Results: Eight studies were included in this study which involved 556 patients. The meta-analyses indicated that, compared with using antihypertensive drugs alone, combined treatment of GDI with antihypertensive drugs can decrease 24-hour urinary total protein (weighted mean difference [WMD] –0.61, 95% confidence interval [CI]: –0.82, –0.39; k = 6, P ≤ .001), blood urea nitrogen (WMD –1.27, 95% CI: –2.45, –0.10; k = 6, P = .033, serum creatinine (WMD –29.50, 95% CI: –56.44, –2.56; number of estimates [ k ] = 6, P = .032). Conclusions: Our meta-analyses showed that GDI combined with antihypertensive drugs can improve the renal function of hypertensive patients with renal injury.

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Objectives This study aimed to comprehensively investigate the potential active components and therapeutic mechanisms of Shen-Kui-Tong-Mai granule (SKTMG) in the treatment of heart failure. Methods Network pharmacology combined with ultra-high performance liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC–MS/MS), molecular docking, and in vivo validation was performed to identify the active components and the potential targets for SKTMG to improve chronic heart failure (CHF). Key findings The network pharmacology identified 192 active compounds and 307 potential consensus targets for SKTMG. On the other hand, network analysis discovered 10 core target genes related to the MAPK signal pathway. These genes include AKT1, STAT3, MAPK1, P53, SRC, JUN, TNF, APP, MAPK8 and IL6. The molecular docking results revealed that the SKTMG components were luteolin, quercetin, astragaloside IV and kaempferol, which could bind AKT1, MAPK1, P53, JUN, TNF and MAPK8. Additionally, SKTMG inhibited phosphorylation of AKT, P38, P53 and c-JUN, and reduced TNF-α expression in CHF rats. Conclusions The present results demonstrated that network pharmacology combined with UHPLC–MS/MS, molecular docking and in vivo validation can facilitate the identification of active components and the potential targets for SKTMG to improve CHF.