Potential Lipid-Lowering Effects of (L) Gaertn. Extract on High-Fat-Diet-Induced Hyperlipidemic Rats.

BACKGROUND

To date, anti-obesity agents based on natural products are tested for their potential using lipase inhibition assay through the interference of hydrolysis of fat by lipase resulting in reduced fat absorption without altering the central mechanisms. Previous screening study had indicated strong anti-obesity potential in (), but to date, no pharmacologic studies have been reported so far.

OBJECTIVE

This study was performed to investigate the lipid-lowering effects of using both and models.

METHODS

The crude methanolic extract of was fractionated using hexane (H-Ei), dichloromethane (DCM-Ei), ethyl acetate (EA-Ei), butanol (B-Ei), and water (W-Ei). All the extracts were tested for antilipase activity using porcine pancreatic lipase. Because H-Ei showed the highest inhibition, it was further subjected to chemical profiling using high-performance liquid chromatography. Subsequently, oral toxicity analysis of H-Ei was performed [Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development guidelines using fixed dose procedure (No. 420)]; efficacy analysis was performed using high-fat diet (HFD)-induced hyperlipidemic female Sprague-Dawley rats.

RESULTS

According to the toxicity and efficacy analyses, H-Ei did not demonstrate any noticeable biochemical toxicity or physiologic abnormalities and did not cause any tissue damage as per histologic analysis. Furthermore, H-Ei significantly reduced body weight and improved serum profile and did not show hepatotoxicity and nephrotoxicity based on the serum profile. Moreover, H-Ei alleviated HFD-induced hepatosteatosis and ameliorated induced adiposity in both visceral and subcutaneous adipose tissue.

CONCLUSION

Our results demonstrate that H-Ei effectively improved hyperlipidemia. Further studies to explore its possibility as an alternative pharmacologic agent to treat obesity are warranted.

SUMMARY

Hexane extract of (H-Ei) showed strong potential in the inhibition of porcine pancreatic lipase (27.01 ± 5.68%).The acute oral toxicity of hexane extract on animal model falls into Globally Harmonized System Category 5 (low hazard), since mortality, clinical toxicity symptoms, gross pathologic, or histopathologic damage was not observed.The hexane extract of had significantly reduced the body weight and improved serum lipid profile, with reduction in serum triglycerides, total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein, and elevation in high-density lipoprotein when comparing against the high-fat diet control group.Microscopic evaluation on histologic slides of liver and adipose tissues suggested that hexane extract had greatly improved liver steatosis and adipose tissue hypertrophy in high-fat diet control group. ALT: Alanine transaminase; AST: Aspartate transaminase; B-Ei: Butanol extract of ; DCM-Ei: Dichloromethane extract of ; EA-Ei: Ethyl acetate extract of ; GHS: Globally Harmonized System; HDL: High-density lipoprotein; H-Ei: Hexane extract of ; HFD: High-fat diet; HPLC: High-performance liquid chromatography; LDL: Low-density lipoprotein; NFD: Normal fed diet; PPL: Porcine pancreatic lipase; SEM: Standard error of mean; SD: Standard deviation; TC: Total cholesterol; TG: Triglycerides; W-Ei: Water extract of .