Astragaloside IV alleviates heart failure by promoting angiogenesis through the JAK-STAT3 pathway

Context: Heart failure (HF) is one of the most serious diseases worldwide. Astragaloside IV (ASI) is widely used for the treatment of cardiovascular disease in China.Objective: To evaluate the protective effect of ASI on the HF in a Sprague–Dawley rat model of left coronary artery ligation, and investigate the angiogenesis-related mechanisms.Materials and methods: Left coronary artery was ligated to induce a rat model of HF, and the rats were treated with vehicle (saline) or different doses of ASI (0.1, 0.3 and 1 mg/kg/day) by oral gavage for 6 weeks. Cardiac function was evaluated by echocardiography. Infarct size was determined by triphenyltetrazolium chloride staining. Cardiac vascular density was analyzed by microangiography. Real-time PCR, Western blot and chromatin immunoprecipitation were performed to investigate the mechanisms.Results: ASI treatment improved the body weight and survival rate of HF rats, as well as the cardiac function of HF rats, with significantly improved ejection fracti...