Salvia miltiorrhiza is a medicinal herb commonly used in traditional
Chinese medicine for the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular
disease. This study investigated the effects of Cardiotonic Pill (CP),
a pharmaceutical preparation of Salvia miltiorrhiza, on cardiac
myocytes and fibroblasts with respect to the viability, proliferation,
and collagen synthesis in these cells under various conditions. A
cardiac myocyte line, H9c2, and primarily cultured fibroblasts from rat
hearts were incubated with CP over a broad concentration range (50-800
microg/ml) under normal cultures, conditions of ischemia (serum-free
culture), and stimulation by angiotensin II (AII, 100 nM), hydrogen
peroxide (H(2)O(2), 50-200 microM), or tumor necrosis factor alpha
(TNFalpha, 40 ng/ml) for 24-48 h. Cell growth, apoptosis, DNA and
collagen synthesis, and expression of relevant genes were assessed via
cell number study, morphological examination, Annexin-V staining,
flow-cytometry, [(3)H]-thymidine or [(3)H]-proline incorporation assay,
and Western blotting analysis. It was found that (1) at therapeutic (50
microg/ml) and double therapeutic (100 microg/ml) concentrations, CP
did not significantly affect normal DNA synthesis and cell growth in
these cardiac cells, while at higher (over 4-fold therapeutic)
concentrations (200-800 microg/ml), CP decreased DNA synthesis and cell
growth and increased cell death; (2) CP treatment (50 microg/ml)
significantly inhibited TNFalpha-induced apoptosis in myocytes, with
12.3+/-1.46% cells being apoptosis in CP treatment group and
37.0+/-7.34% in the control (p<0.01), and simultaneously, expression
of activated (phosphorylated) Akt protein was increased by about 2
folds in the CP-treated cells; and (3) in cultured fibroblasts, CP
significantly reduced AII-induced collagen synthesis in a
concentration-dependent manner (by approximately 50% and approximately
90% reduction of AII-induced collagen synthesis at 50 and 100
microg/ml, respectively). Thus, Salvia miltiorrhiza preparation CP is
physiologically active on cardiac cells. The actions by CP to reduce
apoptotic damage in myocytes and collagen synthesis in fibroblasts may
help to preserve the heart function and reduce heart failure risk. The
actions by CP to inhibit DNA synthesis and cell growth, which occurred
at over therapeutic doses, may weaken the ability of heart repair.
Further studies are needed to identify the chemical compounds in this
herbal product that are responsible for these observed physiological
effects.

A pharmaceutical preparation of Salvia miltiorrhiza protects
cardiac myocytes from tumor necrosis factor-induced apoptosis and
reduces angiotensin II-stimulated collagen synthesis in fibroblasts.

PMID: 19010649 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]