Compound danshen dripping pill pretreatment to prevent contrast-induced nephropathy in patients with acute coronary syndrome undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention.

Background. Contrast-induced nephropathy (CIN) limits the outcome of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Objective. To investigate whether pretreatment with Compound Danshen Dripping Pills (CDDP) will decrease the incidence of CIN after PCI. Methods. A total of 229 patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) undergoing PCI were divided into the control group (n = 114) and the CDDP (containing salvia miltiorrhiza and sanqi) group (n = 115; given 20 CDDP pills, three times daily before PCI). Serum creatinine, creatinine clearance (CrCl), high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP), P-selectin, and intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) were measured at admission and 24 and 48 h after PCI. Results. CrCl decreased after PCI but recovered after 48 h. In the CDDP group, CrCl recovered more rapidly (P < 0.05). The procedure increased the hsCRP, P-selectin, and ICAM-1 levels, but these levels were less in the CDDP group (P < 0.05). Conclusions. Pretreatment with CDDP can decrease the occurrence of CIN in patients undergoing PCI, suggesting that the early use of CDDP is an appropriate adjuvant pharmacological therapy before PCI.