Effect of Shuxin Tiaogeng formula on NLRP3 inflammasome-related factors in perimenopausal coronary heart disease patients with anxiety or depression

LYU Xiaojie; WU Xingxu; XU Dandan; SU Xingyu; WANG Yuxia; ZHAO Lijun; ZHANG Jie; ZHANG Jinghong; LIU Mengmeng

doi:10.3969/j.issn.1002-3429.2026.01.012

Abstract：Objective To investigate the effect of the Shuxin Tiaogeng formula on nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain-like receptor protein 3(NLRP3)inflammasome-related factors in perimenopausal patients with coronary heart disease(CHD)accompanied by anxiety or depression.Methods A total of 80 patients with perimenopausal CHD accompanied by anxiety or depression who were admitted from March 2023 to February 2024 were selected and divided into the conventional group(n=40)and the Shuxin Tiaogeng formula group(n=40)according to the random number table method.The conventional group was treated with conventional secondary prevention of CHD and Paroxetine Hydrochloride tablets,while the Shuxin Tiaogeng formula group was treated with a self-designed Shuxin Tiaogeng formula on the basis of the conventional group.The clinical efficacy and the occurrence of adverse reactions of the two groups were evaluated.The serum inflammatory indicators,TCM syndrome scores,and mRNA expression levels of NLRP3 inflammasome signaling pathology-related factors before and after treatment were compared between the two groups.The scores of angina pectoris,perimenopausal symptoms,psychological anxiety state,and psychological depression state were compared between the two groups before treatment and at 2 and 3 months after treatment.Results The total effective rate of clinical treatment in the Shuxin Tiaogeng formula group was 95.00％(38/40),which was higher than 85.00％(34/40)in the conventional group(P＜0.05).At 3 months after treatment,the primary symptom scores,secondary symptom scores,and the levels of serum tumor necrosis factor-α,high-sensitivity C-reactive protein,and interleukin-1 β in both groups were lower than those before treatment,and the levels in the Shuxin Tiaogeng formula group were lower than those in the conventional group(P＜0.05).At different time points after treatment,the Hamilton Anxiety Scale,Angina pectoris,Hamilton Depression Scale-17 and modified Kupperman scores of the two groups all showed a continuous downward trend over time.Moreover,the above scores of the Shuxin Tiaogeng formula group were significantly lower than those of the conventional group at 2 and 3 months after treatment(P＜0.05).At 3 months after treatment,the expression levels of NLRP3 and Caspase-1 mRNA in both groups decreased significantly compared with those before treatment,and the decrease in the Shuxin Tiaogeng formula group was greater than that in the conventional group(P＜0.05).No significant difference was observed in the incidence of adverse reactions during the treatment period between the two groups(P＞0.05).Conclusion The combination of Shuxin Tiaogeng formula and Western medicine can reduce the mRNA expression of NLRP3 inflammasome-related factors and the levels of downstream inflammatory factors in the serum of perimenopausal patients with CHD accompanied by anxiety or depression,improve TCM syndromes,alleviate the symptoms of perimenopausal syndrome,and effectively relieve the anxiety or depressive symptoms of patients,showing definite clinical efficacy and relatively high safety.