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Cardiovascular disease is the main cause of mortality and morbidity in the world, especially in developing countries. Drug therapy is one of the main ways to treat cardiovascular diseases. Among them, great progress has been made in the treatment of cardiovascular diseases with traditional Chinese medicine. In terms of experimental research, the mechanism of traditional Chinese medicine in the treatment of cardiovascular diseases has been thoroughly discussed in vitro and in vivo. In terms of clinical treatment, traditional Chinese medicine with flavonoids, saponins and alkaloids as the main effective components has a definite effect on the treatment of cardiovascular diseases such as arrhythmia, myocardial ischemia, angina pectoris and myocardial infarction, with high safety and good application prospects. With the further research on the effective ingredients, mechanism and adverse reactions of traditional Chinese medicine, it will be beneficial to the effectiveness of traditional Chinese medicine, reduce side effects and promote the modernization of traditional Chinese medicine. Calycosin and its derivatives, the main bioactive flavonoids in Astragalus membranaceus have multiple biological effects, such as antioxidant, pro-angiogenesis, anti-tumour, and anti-inflammatory effects. Based on the above biological effects, calycosin has been shown to have good potential for cardiovascular protection. The potent antioxidant effect of calycosin may play an important role in the cardiovascular protective potential. For injured cardiac myocytes, calycosin and its derivatives can alleviate the cell damage mainly marked by the release of myocardial enzymes and reduce the death level of cardiac myocytes mainly characterized by apoptosis through various mechanisms. For vascular endothelial cells, calycosin also has multiple effects and multiple mechanisms, such as promoting vascular endothelial cell proliferation, exerting vasodilating effect and directly affecting the synthesis function of endothelial cells. The present review will address the bioactivity of calycosin in cardiovascular diseases such as protective effects on cardiac myocytes and vascular endothelial cells and elucidate main mechanism of calycosin and its derivatives to exert the above biological effects.

Flap necrosis is generally regarded as the result of vasospasm, thrombosis, and infection.To improve skin flap survival and lower the risk of side effects due to systemic drug delivery, we formulated and evaluated compound gels for transdermal application. The transdermal delivery of 1% azithromycin (AZM), 0.5% amlodipine besylate (AB), and 300 IU/g low molecular weight heparin (LMWH) in compound gels, singly or in combinations, was measured across rat skin in vitro. The effects of AB and LMWH on flap blood circulation was investigated using fluorescein angiography, by transdermally applying the gel onto the surface of an in vivo ischaemic flap rat model; concentrations of the drugs were detected in both blood plasma and flap tissue at assigned timepoints. Finally, infected ischaemic flaps were treated to evaluate their anti-inflammatory effects and sizes of flap survival area.Each drug efficiently penetrated the in vitro skin in a time-dependent manner. In the in vivo ischaemic flaps, AB or LMWH increased the blood supply. All gel formulations that included AZM were associated with less flap inflammation. The surviving areas after treatment with AZM+LMWH or AZM+AB were significantly larger than that treated with the AZM-only gel, and the largest surviving area was that treated with AZM+AB+LMWH. Gels containing no AZM could not decrease flap inflammation or increase flap survival.Transdermal application of a compound gel with AZM, AB, and LMWH combined is a promising method to prevent and treat flap infection, improve blood circulation, and increase the survival of infected ischaemic flaps.