Efficacy and Mechanism of Qianshan Huoxue Gao in Acute Coronary Syndrome via Regulation of Intestinal Flora and Metabolites

To study the efficacy of Qianshan Huoxue Gao (QS) in treating acute coronary syndrome (ACS) and to explore the mechanism of action from the perspective of intestinal flora regulation. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into control, model, QS, and atorvastatin groups; except for the control group, rats underwent ligation of the left anterior descending branch of the coronary artery. Following treatment for 28 days, cardiac function was evaluated using an echocardiographic assay; ELISAs for serum creatine kinase isoenzyme (CK-MB), cardiac troponin I (cTnI), high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), interleukin (IL)-2 (IL-2), IL-6, and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α); assessment of cardiac enzymes and inflammatory response; hematoxylin and eosin (HE) staining for histopathological changes in the heart, skin, and viscera; 16S rRNA gene sequencing for intestinal flora diversity and structural differences analysis; and we further investigated intestinal contents using metabolomics. Compared with controls, CK-MB and cTnI were increased (