The Hypolipidemic And Liver Protective Effect Of Asiatic Acid On Hyperlipidemic Animal Models

Objective This study is to observe the protective effect of asiatic acid on hyperlipidemia animals, and preliminary exploration of lipid-lowering mechanism. Methods Firstly, we carried out an experiment in the Triton WR-1339induced hyperlipidemic mice to investigate the hypolipidaemic activity of asiatic acid. Results show that100mg/kg of asiatic acid significant decrease in serum cholesterol (TC) and triglyceride(TG), compared with the hyperlipidemic mice. Furthermore, a hyperlipidemic golden hamster model was established by feeding high fat diet to verify the lipid-lowering activity of different concentrations of asiatic acid. Hyperlipidemic golden hamsters fed with high-fat diet was administered orally with asiatic acid (8,16and32mg/kg) for4weeks. Levels of serum lipid content, liver histology, hepatic GSH-PX and SOD levels, serum ALT and AST activities were evaluated in golden hamsters, fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is using to examine the liver lecithin cholesterol fatty acyl transferase (LCAT) and class B type I scavenger receptor (SR-BI) mRNA expression. Results Compared with model group, the results showed that the levels of TC, TG, LDL-C, TC/HDL, ALT and AST decreased but the levels of SOD and GSH-PX increased in asiatic acid group. The HE staining results illustrated that fat deposition in the liver was improved by administration of asiatic acid. LCAT and SR-BI mRNA expression level increased in liver. Conclusion Asiatic acid can effectively reduce blood lipid levels, and improve liver damage of the hyperlipidemia golden hamsters by lipid regulation and antioxidative ability augmentation. The increased levels of LCAT and SR-BI mRNA expression are maybe involved in the mechanism of hypolipidaemic effect of asiatic acid.