Objective:To investigate the effect of Qifu decoction on adriamycin-induced cardiac apoptosis in rat and reveal possible mechanisms.Method:Fifty-sixe male Sprague Dawley（SD） rats were randomly divided into four groups（the normal group

the model group

Chinese medicine control group and Qifu decoction group with 14 rats in each group）.The normal group:no special treatment

the model group:the rats were treated with ADR 2.5 mg·kg-1

once per week

ip

in the meantime

the rats of the normal group and the model group were given distilled water

10 mL·kg-1

ig.Chinese medicine group:pulse-activating decoction was administrated at the same time of modeling

3.5 mL·kg-1·d-1

ig.Qifu decoction group:Qifu decoction was administrated at the same time of modeling

2.625 g·kg-1·d-1

ig.After 4 weeks

the rats’ body weight were weighed

and then the rats were executed and their heart were weighed

to calculate cardiac index（heart weight /body weight）

Cardiac apoptosis rate was measured by flow cytometry.mRNA expression level of Caspase-3

Bcl-2 and Bax were detected by real time polymerase chain reaction（Realtime quantitative PCR）

to value the radio of Bcl-2/Bax.Result:Adriamycin administration greatly decreased heart weight and caused remarkable cardiac apoptosis.Elevated mRNA expression of Bax and Caspase-3 were obviously observed after Adriamycin treatment

while the elevation was prevented by Qifu decoction.Adriamycin administration reduced the expression level of Bcl-2 mRNA

while Qifu decoction enhanced it.so Bcl-2/Bax ratio was increased by Qifu decoction

all with statistical significance（P<0.05）.Conclusion:Qifu decoction could prevent cardiac apoptosis induced by adriamycin

which might be mediated through the prevention of Bax and Caspase-3 mRNA upregulation and Bcl-2 mRNA downregulation.