Abstract / Summary
Background Foeniculum vulgare Mill. (fennel) is a medicinal plant widely used in traditional medicine and is known to possess diuretic, anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory, and cardiovascular protective activities. XiaoHuiXiangLu is a traditional Uyghur medicinal preparation developed with F. vulgare as its principal component. However, its clinical efficacy in chronic heart failure (CHF) has not been systematically evaluated. Objectives This study aimed to investigate the therapeutic effects of XiaoHuiXiangLu as an adjunctive natural product-based therapy in patients with coronary heart disease (CHD)-associated CHF. Materials and Methods A retrospective observational study was conducted involving 120 patients with CHF secondary to CHD treated between January 2019 and November 2024. Patients received either standard guideline-directed medical therapy alone (control group, n = 60) or standard therapy combined with XiaohuixiangLu (treatment group, n = 60) for 2 weeks. Clinical efficacy was evaluated using New York Heart Association (NYHA) functional classification, traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) syndrome scores, Lee’s heart failure score, quality-of-life assessment, echocardiographic parameters, and circulating biomarkers associated with ventricular remodeling, including N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP), matrix metalloproteinase-1 (MMP-1), and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase-1 (TIMP-1). Results Adjunctive treatment with XiaoHuiXiangLu resulted in significantly greater improvements in NYHA functional classification, TCM syndrome scores, Lee’s heart failure score, and quality-of-life outcomes compared with standard therapy alone (all p < .05). Patients receiving XiaohuixiangLu also exhibited significantly improved left ventricular ejection fraction and more favorable modulation of ventricular remodeling-related biomarkers, characterized by reductions in NT-proBNP, MMP-1, and TIMP-1 levels together with an improvement in the MMP-1/TIMP-1 ratio (all p < .05). The incidence of adverse reactions was comparable between the two groups. Conclusion XiaoHuiXiangLu , a F. vulgare -based traditional Uyghur herbal formulation, was associated with beneficial effects on cardiac function, symptom burden, quality of life, and ventricular remodeling in patients with NYHA class II–III CHF secondary to CHD. These findings support the potential application of this natural product formulation as an adjunctive therapeutic strategy for heart failure and warrant further mechanistic and prospective investigations.