The application and mechanism of Chinese medicine in the upstream treatment of atrial fibrillation

Min Liu; Chenhan Mao; Fusen Zhao; Zhaoyang Chen; Xindong Wang

doi:10.3389/fcvm.2023.1229021

The application and mechanism of Chinese medicine in the upstream treatment of atrial fibrillation

Front Cardiovasc Med. 2023 Aug 7:10:1229021. doi: 10.3389/fcvm.2023.1229021. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Min Liu^#^{1

2}, Chenhan Mao^#^{1

2}, Fusen Zhao^#^{1

2}, Zhaoyang Chen^#^{1

2}, Xindong Wang^{1

2

3}

Affiliations

¹ The Third Clinical Medical College, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, China.
² Jiangsu Province Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, China.
³ Department of Cardiology, Affiliated Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, China.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Upstream treatment of atrial fibrillation (AF, for short) is a new approach to the prevention and treatment of AF with non-antiarrhythmic drugs, which is essentially primary and secondary prevention of AF. The former refers to the prevention of AF by controlling risk factors such as diabetes, hypertension, and heart failure before AF occurs, and the latter mainly refers to targeting ion channels, inflammation, oxidative stress, and other pathways to reduce or reverse atrial electrical and structural remodeling, reduction of AF load, and reduction of the chance of AF occurrence or progression. More and more studies have shown that many traditional Chinese medicines, active ingredients of Chinese medicines, and Chinese herbal formulas have definite effects on the upstream treatment of AF, but their mechanisms of action are different. Therefore, we summarized the relevant literature on the application and mechanisms of Chinese medicine on the upstream treatment of AF in recent years, hoping to be helpful for subsequent studies.

Keywords: Chinese herb; Chinese medicine; atrial fibrillation; review; upstream treatment.

Publication types

Review

Grants and funding

The study was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 81973766), the Natural Science Foundation of Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine (No. XZR2021024), the Postgraduate Research and Practice Innovation Program of Jiangsu Province (No. SJCX23_0958) and the National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine by Construction Project of Inheritance Studio of National Famous Traditional Chinese Medicine Experts ([2022] No. 75).