ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Pharmacol.
Sec. Cardiovascular and Smooth Muscle Pharmacology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fphar.2025.1491582
This article is part of the Research TopicInnovative Approaches and Molecular Mechanisms in Cardiovascular PharmacologyView all 12 articles
Qishen Yiqi alleviates periostin-mediated cardiac fibrosis and hypertrophy in Dahl hypertensive rat hearts and angiotensin II-induced cardiac organoids
Provisionally accepted
- Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tianjin, China
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Background Arterial hypertension is a significant risk factor for cardiovascular health. Long lasting hypertension leads to multiple organ, such as heart, kidney, and vascular bed damage. We have previously shown that a component-based Chinese medicine Qishen Yiqi (QSYQ) lowered the blood pressure and ameliorated kidney damage in salt-sensitive hypertensive rats. However, its effect on hypertensive rat heart remains unknown. This study aims to explore the efficacy and mechanism of QSYQ in hypertensive heart disease. Methods Dahl salt-sensitive hypertension rats were fed with normal or high-salt diets with gavage administration of QSYQ or control drug for 9 weeks. Cardiac ultrasound, tissue pathology and transcriptome analysis were performed on the hypertensive heart in vivo. A cardiac spheroid model we established previously were treated with angiotensin II to mimic hypertensive heart in vitro.QSYQ prevented the development of diastolic dysfunction of LVPW and E/A and reduced fibrosis and hypertrophy in the hypertensive rat hearts. In cardiac spheroid, angiotensin II induced an exacerbated hypertrophic morphology, fibrotic pathology, and elevated collagen expression. QSYQ treatment effectively reversed these abnormalities. Transcriptome analysis revealed that periostin is a key target of QSYQ in the hypertensive heart. Consistently, QSYQ also significantly downregulated the expression of periostin and fibrosis indicators such as TGF-β, 𝛼-SMA, Col1a1 and Col3a1. Conclusion QSYQ alleviates cardiac fibrosis and hypertrophy in Dahl Saltsensitive hypertension rats in vivo and angiotensin II-induced cardiac organoids in vitro via regulating multiple signaling pathway activator periostin.
Keywords: QSYQ, salt sensitive hypertension, cardiac spheroid, Heart damage, periostin Ang II, angiotensin II, CFs, cardiac fibroblasts, CMs, cardiomyocytes, Dahl SS, Dahl salt-sensitive
Received: 05 Sep 2024; Accepted: 30 May 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Fan, Du, Li, Xiao, Zhao, He, Fan and Zhu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Yan Zhu, Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tianjin, China
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