Recently, the team led by professor Wang Jian of SKLRD has achieved a new progress in the research on the action mechanism of single drug Tetramethylpyrazine, a source of herbal medicine, on pulmonary hypertension.

The clinical research has proven the curative effect of Tetramethylpyrazine to patients of pulmonary hypertension. After treatment with Tetramethylpyrazine for 16 weeks, it can obviously increase the six-minute walk distance of pulmonary hypertension patients. Through multiple pulmonary hypertension animal models, it has verified that Tetramethylpyrazine has a preventive and curative effect on pulmonary hypertension, which can improve the haemodynamics indicators of pulmonary hypertension animal model, inhibit the pulmonary blood vessel reshaping and improve the functions of cor dextrum of experiment animals. As to its mechanism, on one hand, Tetramethylpyrazine can inhibit the calcium inflow of pulmonary arterial smooth muscle cells by activating the channel of potassium ions in the pulmonary artery, thus directly relaxing the pulmonary artery. On the other hand, Tetramethylpyrazine can inhibit the multiplication and migration of pulmonary arterial smooth muscle cells triggered by low oxygen by inhibiting the signal channel of HIF-1α-TRPC1/6-SOCE. The research has provided a theoretical basis for the use of Tetramethylpyrazine in the clinical treatment of pulmonary hypertension patients.

The paper “Tetramethylpyrazine, a Promising Drug for Treatment of Pulmonary Hypertension” is published on the British Journal of Pharmacology (IF: 6.583), with Dr. Chen Yuqin, Professor Lu Wenju, associate professor Yang Kai as the co-first authors, Professor Wang Jian as the corresponding author and the SKLRD and Guangzhou Medical University as the correspondence organizations.