Chinese Herbal Medicine Treatment Improves the Overall Survival Rate of Individuals with Hypertension among Type 2 Diabetes Patients and Modulates In Vitro Smooth Muscle Cell Contractility

PLoS One. 2015 Dec 23;10(12):e0145109. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0145109. eCollection 2015.

Abstract

Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is a chronic, multifactorial, and metabolic disorder accounting for 90% diabetes cases worldwide. Among them, almost half of T2D have hypertension, which is responsible for cardiovascular disease, morbidity, and mortality in these patients. The Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) prescription patterns of hypertension individuals among T2D patients have yet to be characterized. This study, therefore, aimed to determine their prescription patterns and evaluate the CHM effect. A cohort of one million randomly sampled cases from the National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD) was used to investigate the overall survival rate of CHM users, and prescription patterns. After matching CHM and non-CHM users for age, gender and date of diagnosis of hypertension, 980 subjects for each group were selected. The CHM users were characterized with slightly longer duration time from diabetes to hypertension, and more cases for hyperlipidaemia. The cumulative survival probabilities were higher in CHM users than in non-CHM users. Among these top 12 herbs, Liu-Wei-Di-Huang-Wan, Jia-Wei-Xiao-Yao-San, Dan-Shen, and Ge-Gen were the most common herbs and inhibited in vitro smooth muscle cell contractility. Our study also provides a CHM comprehensive list that may be useful in future investigation of the safety and efficacy for individuals with hypertension among type 2 diabetes patients.

Publication types

  • Randomized Controlled Trial
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Aged
  • Aged, 80 and over
  • Blotting, Western
  • Case-Control Studies
  • Cells, Cultured
  • Complementary Therapies
  • Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / complications
  • Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / mortality*
  • Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / pathology
  • Drug Prescriptions
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Hypertension / etiology
  • Hypertension / mortality*
  • Hypertension / pathology
  • In Vitro Techniques
  • Male
  • Medicine, Chinese Traditional / statistics & numerical data*
  • Middle Aged
  • Muscle Contraction / drug effects*
  • Myocytes, Smooth Muscle / drug effects*
  • Myocytes, Smooth Muscle / pathology
  • Retrospective Studies

Grants and funding

This study was funded by Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST 103-2320-B-039 -006 -MY3; YJL), China Medical University (CMU102-PH-01; YJL and FJT), China Medical University Hospital (DMR-104-029; FJT; DMR-104-089; YJL), and China Medical University Beigang Hospital (CMUBH R103-008; TJH; CMUBH R104-007; TJH).