Objective To observe whether the conditional medium of the injured Vascular
endothelial cells(VEC) induced by ox-LDL, the
D (with majority of paeonioflorin) and E (with majority of total flavone )(weight ratio 1:2)compatibility of the effective components extracted from
Qixue Bingzhi Formula have any influence on the activity of Vascular smooth muscle cells(VSMC), MAPK, PKC and the fluorescent intensity of intracellular Ca 2+. Method The VSMC normal culture fluid, the conditional medium of the injured VEC induced by ox-LDL, the conditional medium of the injured VEC induced by ox-LDL and Simvastatin, the conditional medium of the injured VEC induced by ox-LDL and the D and E compatibility of the effective components extracted from Qixue Bingzhi Formula acted on the VSMC respectively. With β-radioactivity assay the activity of the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) and protein kinase C (PKC) were assayed, and with the Liquid Cellular Technique the fluorescent intensity of intracellular Ca 2+ of VSMC was assayed too. Result In comparison with the normal cultured VSMC, it has been found that conditional medium of the injured VEC acted on VSMC, the activity of MAPK and PKC of VSMC significantly increased and the fluorescent intensity of intracellular Ca 2+ increased too; whereas after the D and E compatibility of the effective components acted on the cultured VSMC with the conditional medium of the injured VEC, in comparison with the model cultured VSMC, the activity of MAPK and PKC significantly decreased (p<0.01), and the fluorescent intensity of intracellular Ca 2+ lowered. Conclusion The D and E compatibility of the effective components from Qixue Bingzhi Formula is able to inhibit the increase of the activity about MAPK and PKC, and increase of the fluorescent intensity about intracellular Ca 2+. The action of Qixue Bingzhi Formula in prevention and treatment of AS may be related to the paeonioflorin and total flavone (weight ratio 1:2) compatibility of the effective components, which can inhibit the activity of MAPK and PKC of VSMC induced by the conditional medium of the injured VEC and the fluorescent intensity of intracellular Ca 2+.