Adaramoye Oluwatosin A, Akintayo Olajumoke, Achem Jonah, Fafunso Michael A
Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Basic Medical Sciences, College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria.
Vasc Health Risk Manag. 2008;4(1):235-41. doi: 10.2147/vhrm.2008.04.01.235.
We investigated the lipid-lowering effects of methanolic extract of Vernonia amygdalina (VA) leaves in rats fed an high cholesterol diet, and compared with a standard hypolipidemic drug, Questran (Qu). The effects of VA on the lipid profile were assessed by measuring the levels of total cholesterol, triglyceride, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, lipid peroxidation (LPO), phospholipid, and glutathione (GSH) in the plasma and liver of the rats. Administration of cholesterol at a dose of 30 mg/0.3 ml, five times in a week for nine consecutive weeks resulted in a significant increase (p < 0.05) in plasma and post mitochondrial fraction (PMF) cholesterol levels by 33% and 55%, respectively. However, treatment with extract of VA at doses of 100 and 200 mg/kg caused a dose dependent reduction in the plasma and PMF cholesterol by 20%, 23% and 23%, 29%, respectively. Similar reduction in cholesterol levels was obtained in Qu-treated rats. Furthermore, VA at 200 mg/kg decreased the plasma and PMF LDL-cholesterol levels by 23% and 49%, and also decreased plasma and PMF triglyceride levels by 29% and 28%, respectively. Also, VA at 100 and 200 mg/kg caused a dose-dependent increase in plasma HDL-cholesterol levels by 41% and 59%, respectively. However, there were no significant differences (p > 0.05) in the PMF HDL-cholesterol and phospholipid levels of the treated rats when compared to hypercholesterolemic rats. There were significant decreases (p < 0.05) in the LPO levels of extract-treated rats. Precisely, VA at 100 and 200 mg/kg decreased the levels of plasma and PMF LPO by 38%, 42% and 35%, 45%, respectively. In addition, VA augmented the cholesterol-induced decrease in PMF glutathione levels of the rats. Taken together, these results suggest the lipid-lowering effects of VA and, probably serve as a new potential natural product for the treatment of hyperlipidemia.
我们研究了扁桃斑鸠菊（VA）叶甲醇提取物对高脂饮食喂养大鼠的降脂作用，并与标准降脂药物考来烯胺（Qu）进行比较。通过测量大鼠血浆和肝脏中总胆固醇、甘油三酯、低密度脂蛋白（LDL）胆固醇、高密度脂蛋白（HDL）胆固醇、脂质过氧化（LPO）、磷脂和谷胱甘肽（GSH）的水平，评估VA对血脂谱的影响。以30mg/0.3ml的剂量每周五次连续九周给予胆固醇，导致血浆和线粒体后组分（PMF）胆固醇水平分别显著升高（p<0.05）33%和55%。然而，以100和200mg/kg剂量的VA提取物处理导致血浆和PMF胆固醇分别剂量依赖性降低20%、23%和23%、29%。在接受Qu治疗的大鼠中也观察到类似的胆固醇水平降低。此外，200mg/kg的VA使血浆和PMF的LDL胆固醇水平分别降低23%和49%，同时使血浆和PMF甘油三酯水平分别降低29%和28%。而且，100和200mg/kg的VA使血浆HDL胆固醇水平分别剂量依赖性升高41%和59%。然而，与高胆固醇血症大鼠相比，处理后大鼠的PMF HDL胆固醇和磷脂水平没有显著差异（p>0.05）。提取物处理的大鼠LPO水平显著降低（p<0.05）。具体而言，100和200mg/kg的VA分别使血浆和PMF的LPO水平降低38%、42%和3S%、45%。此外，VA增强了胆固醇诱导的大鼠PMF谷胱甘肽水平的降低。综上所述，这些结果表明VA具有降脂作用，可能成为治疗高脂血症的一种新的潜在天然产物。
