Clinical intervention effect of Xuefu Zhuyu decoction on chronic heart failure complicated with depression

Abstract

BACKGROUND

The diagnosis and treatment of depression in patients with chronic heart failure (CHF) is challenging, with no ideal treatment at present.

AIM

To analyze the clinical intervention effect of Xuefu Zhuyu decoction (XFZYD) on CHF complicated with depression.

METHODS

The study cohort comprised 116 patients with CHF complicated with depression who received treatment from July 2020 to July 2023, of which 55 received Western medicine (control group) and 61 received XFZYD (research group). Data on clinical effectiveness, traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) syndrome score, cardiac function, negative emotions, and serum inflammatory factors, were collected for comparative analyses.

RESULTS

Compared with the control group, the research group had an evidently higher total effective rate. Furthermore, there were marked reductions in TCM symptom score, left ventricular end-diastolic diameter, left ventricular end-systolic diameter, Self-Rating Depression Scale, Hamilton Depression Scale, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, monocyte chemoattractant protein-1, and matrix metalloproteinase-9 in the research group after treatment, and these were lower than the corresponding values in the control group. Left ventricular ejection fraction was increased and higher in the research group compared with the control group after treatment.

CONCLUSION

Our findings conclusively proved that XFZYD was considerably superior to Western medicine for treating CHF complicated with depression because it significantly alleviated patients’ symptoms, improved cardiac function, relieved negative emotions, and reduced the levels of serum inflammatory factors.

Keywords: Xuefu Zhuyu decoction; Chronic heart failure; Depression; Cardiac function; Negative emotions

Core Tip: Chronic heart failure (CHF) is a hemodynamic disorder that leads to systolic and diastolic dysfunction and increases the risk of diabetes and chronic kidney disease. Additionally, the risk of depression in patients with CHF can reach up to 60%, and the diagnosis and treatment of depression in this patient population is challenging because there is no ideal therapy for this comorbidity. This study comparatively analyzed the clinical effects of Xuefu Zhuyu decoction (XFZYD) vs Western medicine in patients with CHF complicated with depression from the perspectives of clinical efficacy, traditional Chinese medicine symptom score, cardiac function, negative emotions, and serum inflammatory factor levels. We found that the clinical efficacy of XFZYD was significantly higher than Western medicine for treating CHF complicated with depression and significantly reduced patients’ symptoms, improved cardiac function, alleviated negative emotions, and inhibited serum inflammatory factors. Therefore, XFZYD is highly beneficial for improving the efficacy and clinical outcomes of patients with CHF complicated with depression.