The therapeutic effect and mechanism of Qishen Yiqi dripping pills on cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases and diabetic complications

: The alterations in vascular homeostasis is deeply involved in the development of numerous diseases, such as coronary heart disease, stroke, and diabetic complications. Changes in blood flow and endothelial permeability caused by vascular dysfunction are the common mechanisms for these three types of diseases. The disorders of glucose and lipid metabolism can result in changes of the energy production patterns in endothelium and surrounding cells which may consequently cause local energy metabolic disorders, oxidative stress and inflammatory responses. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) follows the principle of the “treatment by the syndrome differentiation”. TCM considers of that coronary heart disease, stroke and diabetes complications all as the type of “Qi deficiency and Blood stasis” syndrome, which mainly happens to the vascular system. Therefore, the common pathogenesis of these three types of diseases suggests the treatment strategy by TCM should be in a close manner and named as “treating different diseases by the same treatment”. Qishen Yiqi dripping pills is a modern Chinese herbal medicine which has been widely used for treatment of patients with coronary heart disease characterized as “Qi deficiency and blood stasis” in China. Recently, many clinical reports have demonstrated the potent therapeutic effects of Qishen Yiqi dripping pills on ischemic stroke and diabetic nephropathy. Based on these reports, we will summarize the clinical applications of Qishen Yiqi dripping pills on coronary heart disease, ischemic stroke and diabetic nephropathy, including the involved mechanisms with basic researches.