Seto Sai Wang, Chang Dennis, Kiat Hosen, Wang Ning, Bensoussan Alan
NICM Health Research Institute, Western Sydney University, Penrith, Australia.
Faculty of Medicine, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.
Front Cardiovasc Med. 2018 Apr 20;5:33. doi: 10.3389/fcvm.2018.00033. eCollection 2018.
Abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is an irreversible condition where the abdominal aorta is dilated leading to potentially fatal consequence of aortic rupture. Multiple mechanisms are involved in the development and progression of AAA, including chronic inflammation, oxidative stress, vascular smooth muscle (VSMC) apoptosis, immune cell infiltration and extracellular matrix (ECM) degradation. Currently surgical therapies, including minimally invasive endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR), are the only viable interventions for AAAs. However, these treatments are not appropriate for the majority of AAAs, which measure <50 mm. Substantial effort has been invested to identify and develop pharmaceutical treatments such as statins and doxycycline for this potentially lethal condition but these interventions failed to offer a cure or to retard the progression of AAA. Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) has been used for the management of cardiovascular diseases for thousands of years in China and other Asian countries. The unique multi-component and multi-target property of CHMs makes it a potentially ideal therapy for multifactorial diseases such as AAA. In this review, we review the current scientific evidence to support the use of CHMs for the treatment of AAA. Mechanisms of action underlying the effects of CHMs on AAA are also discussed.
腹主动脉瘤（AAA）是一种不可逆的病症，其中腹主动脉扩张，可导致主动脉破裂这一致命后果。AAA的发生和发展涉及多种机制，包括慢性炎症、氧化应激、血管平滑肌（VSMC）凋亡、免疫细胞浸润和细胞外基质（ECM）降解。目前，手术治疗，包括微创血管内动脉瘤修复术（EVAR），是AAA唯一可行的干预措施。然而，这些治疗方法并不适用于大多数直径小于50毫米的AAA。人们已投入大量精力来识别和开发用于治疗这种潜在致命病症的药物，如他汀类药物和强力霉素，但这些干预措施未能治愈或延缓AAA的进展。中药（CHM）在中国和其他亚洲国家用于治疗心血管疾病已有数千年历史。中药独特的多成分和多靶点特性使其成为治疗AAA等多因素疾病的潜在理想疗法。在本综述中，我们回顾了支持使用中药治疗AAA的当前科学证据。还讨论了中药对AAA作用的潜在机制。
