Underlying mechanism of effect of Shenfu injection on buerger's disease model rats

To study the mechanism underlying the therapeutic effect of Shenfu injection (SFI) on the rat models with buerger's disease or thromboangiitis obliterans (TAO). Adult male Sprague Dawley rats were randomly divided into sham operated group, TAO model group, SFI 2.5 mg/kg (low dose), 5 mg/kg (medium dose) and 10 mg/kg (high dose) groups (n =8). Rats were intravenously administered SFI 2.5, 5 and 10mg/kg or saline once per day for 15 days. TAO model was prepared by injecting sodium laurate into the femoral artery of rats. Then we examined pathologic grading of thrombus, the contents of TXB2, 6-K-PGF1a and TXB2/6-K-PGF1α in plasma following SFI or saline treatment. Higher grades of pathological thrombosis, the increase in the TXB2 content and TXB2/6-K-PGF_1α ratio, as well as the decrease of 6-K-PGF_1α content in TAO model group were observed in our experiments; Compared with TAO model group, SFI treatment significantly reduced the numbers of thrombus formation, the TXB2 content and TXB2/6-K-PGF_1α ratio but increased the 6-K-PGF_1α content. These results first suggest that SFI can cause a significant therapeutic effect on experimental TAO model rats by its inhibiting platelet aggregation and enhancing anti-thrombus function of vessel endothelia.