Effect of tongmal recipe on atherosclerosis in patients with early lower extremity arteriopathy caused by type 2 diabetes mellitus

OBJECTIVE: To observe the effect of Tongmai Recipe (TMR) on atherosclerosis (AS) in patients with early lower extremity arteriopathy disease (LEAD) caused by type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). METHODS: Patients were randomly assigned to two groups. The 23 patients in the treatment group were treated by TMR and the 22 in the control group were given Cilostazo, all for 3 months. Before and after treatment, lower extremity vascular color Doppler image, blood levels of glucose, insulin, serum matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) were measured. RESULTS: The thickness of AS plaque and that of arterial intima-media obviously reduced (P < 0.01 and P < 0.05), insulin sensitivity improved noticeably (P < 0.01), and serum levels of MMP-9 and IL-6 lowered obviously (P < 0.05) in the treatment group after treatment, but these indexes were unchanged in the control group statistically. CONCLUSION: TMR has remarkable action in reducing the thickness of AS plaque and intima-media of artery, its mechanism might be related with improving of insulin sensitivity and anti-inflammatory reaction, and reducing of serum MMP-9 level as well in patients.