J Tradit Chin Med. 1990 Dec; 10(4): 276-81.

Effect of radix Salviae miltiorrhizae extract injection on survival of allogeneic heart transplantation.

Zhuang H, Zhu H, Qin Z, Niu X, Li J.

Research Center of Plastic Surgery, 3rd Teaching Hospital of Beijing Medical University.

The effect of Radix Salviae Miltiorrhizae (RSM), a commonly used herbal blood circulation invigorator for the treatment of blood stasis in traditional Chinese medicine, on the duration of allograft survival following heterotopic heart transplantation in experimental animals was observed. The results in three heart transplantation models--auricular free graft in mice, abdominal graft in rats and cervical graft in rabbits--suggested that RSM injection in an appropriate dosage prolonged the survival time of cardiac allograft. The herb showed no significant toxicity. It was also found that RSM injection had a synergic effect with corticosteroids against graft rejection.