Effect of danhong huayu oral liquid combined with insulin on prevention and progression of early diabetic cardiomyopathy in rats

OBJECTIVE: To investigate effects of Danhong Huayu Koufuye (DHK), insulin and their combination on diabetic cardiomyopathy (DC) in streptozotocin (STZ, 50 mg/kg, ip)-induced diabetic rats. METHODS: Rats were divided into five groups: normal control, diabetic treated with vehicle, insulin, DHK, and DHK plus insulin. The animals were treated once daily for 15 weeks starting one week after STZ injection. RESULTS: The combination of DHK with insulin significantly reduced cardiac index (P < 0.05), serum LDH (P < 0.05), AST(P < 0.05), ALT(P < 0.05) and HDL-C (P < 0.05) level, and promoted pancreatic and cardiac morphological changes as compared with the model group. CONCLUSION: It is suggested that DHK may be a valuable adjuvant therapy for DC.