Lipid-lowering, hepatoprotective, and atheroprotective effects of the mixture Hong-Qu and gypenosides in hyperlipidemia with NAFLD rats

BackgroundHyperlipidemia and its complications are among the most harmful of diseases with a worldwide impact, which creates an urgent imperative to find safe and effective drugs for treatment. HG is mainly composed of two kinds of traditional Chinese medicines (TCM), Hong-Qu and gypenosides. Previously, the ingredients of the mixture mainly composed by Hong-Qu and gypenosides (HG) were widely used for purposes of lipid-lowering, antiatherosclerosis effects, and maintaining cardiovascular health in China. The purpose of this study was to determine whether HG provides any benefit to patients with hyperlipidemia.MethodsForty-eight adult male Sprague-Dawley rats with fatty liver disease were randomly divided into six groups: normal, model, two positive controls, and two doses of HG-treated groups. The normal rats were fed a basal diet, and the other rats were fed a high-fat diet. Thereafter, the serum lipid profiles, hepatic steatosis, cytokines, enzymes, and relevant mRNA of rats were analyzed in serum, aorta tissue or hepatic tissues, respectively.ResultsAfter 65 days of feeding the high-fat diet to rats, there were significantly disordered serum lipid profiles, elevated oxidative stress biomarkers, and decreased antiinflammatory cytokines in the serum levels. Additionally, aortic foam cell formation was increased. The gene expression levels including hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA reductase (HMGR), peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha (PPAR-α), sterol response element-binding protein-1c (SREBP-1c), fatty acid synthase (FAS), acetyl-CoA carboxylase-1 (ACC-1) and carnitine palmitoyl transferase-1(CPT-1) in hepatic tissue were also altered by a high-fat diet fed to Sprague-Dawley rats, and HG treatment significantly resolved and normalized these alterations. Moreover, HG not only caused a significant decrease in the lipid drops on the hepatic tissues, but also restored the antioxidant components.ConclusionHG is beneficial for regulating the stability of blood lipids, has atheroprotective characteristics and may prevent nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), providing more than just a theoretical basis for drug research of cardiovascular disease (CVD) treatment.