OBJECTIVE To investigate the effect of multiglycosidorum tripterygium (MT) on cardiac
graft coronary arteriosclerosis (GCA)
and expression of platelet derived growth factor A (PGDF A) mRNA. METHOD Two groups of rats ( n =7 each group) underwent heterotopic heart transplantation and were treated with either MT(30mg·kg -1 ·d -1 )(MT group) or cyclosporine A (10mg·kg -1 ·d -1 )(control group). Histological evaluations of rejection and coronary arteriosclerosis, as well as graft PDGF A mRNA expression were made on the sixtieth day (60th) after transplantation.RESULTS The incidence of diseased coronary arteries and the degree of coronary arterial intimal thickening in the MT group were significantly less than that seen in the control group ( P <0.01 respectively). Moreover, the degree of PDGF A mRNA expression of graft myocardium were significantly lower in the MT group when compared with the control group ( P <0.01). However, no significant difference in the degree of rejection was found between the two groups.CONCLUSION MT is effective in inhibition of GCA, and this efficacy was probably associated with the depressed expression of graft PDGF A in the MT group.