Objective To investigate the possible mechanism of Bushen Huoxue Recipe（补肾活血方） in the treatment of chronic heart failure. Methods A total of 15 Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly selected from 60 rats into sham operation group. The remaining 45 rats underwent coronary artery ligation

post-operative food reduction and exhaustive swimming to establish a rat model of chronic heart failure. After successful modeling

they were randomly divided into model group

western medicine group

and Chinese medicine group. Rats in the sham operation group and the model group were given 3 ml of distilled water

twice a day; the western medicine group was given12. 5 mg/（kg·d） of captopril tablets by gavage; the Chinese medicine group was given 9. 2 g/（kg·d） of Bushen Huoxue Recipe by gavage for 4 weeks. During the experiment

the general condition of fur

activity

body weight and wheezing sound of each group were observed. Color Doppler echocardiography was used to detect left ventricular enddiastolic dimension（LVEDD）

left ventricular end-systolic dimension（LVESD）

left ventricular ejection fraction（EF） and left ventricular short-axis shortening fraction（FS） were calculated. The serum brain natriuretic peptide（BNP） levels and aquaporin 2（AQP2） expressions in rat’s kidney tissue were determined. Results In the model group

the fur color was dark with hair loss. The activity was poor

and body weight was reduced. Some rats had symptoms of cough and wheeze. However

the symptoms of rats in the western medicine group and the Chinese medicine group were improved. Compared with the sham operation group

LVEDD and LVESD were increased

EF and FS decreased

and serum BNP level and AQP2 expression in the kidney tissue increased in the model group（P <0. 05）. Compared with the model group

LVEDD and LVESD were decreased

EF and FS increased

and serum BNP level and AQP2 expression in the kidney tissue were decreased in the Chinese medicine group and western medicine group（P < 0. 05）. There was no significant difference between the western medicine group and Chinese medicine group（P > 0. 05）. Conclusion Bushen Huoxue Recipe may improve cardiac function by reducing serum BNP in rats with chronic heart failure and down-regulating the expression of AQP2 in renal tissue.