Objective: To observe the effects of Huanglian Jiedu Decoction (HJD), a compound traditional Chinese herbal medicine, on lipid metabolism and its related gene expressions in rats with hyperlipidemia.
Methods: Fifty SD rats were randomly divided into normal control group, untreated group, Lipitor (atorvastatin) group, and low- and high-dose HJD groups. Except the normal control group, rats in the other groups were fed with high-fat diet to induce hyperlipidemia. Then the rats were administered with corresponding drugs for 8 weeks. After treatment, the serum levels of total cholesterol (TC), triacylglycerol (TAG), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) were assayed. The activities of lipoprotein lipase (LPL) and hepatic lipase (HL) in liver tissues were measured. Low-density lipoprotein receptor (LDLR) and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARgamma) mRNA expressions in liver tissues were determined by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction.
Results: Compared with the normal control group, the levels of serum TC, TAG and LDL-C in the untreated group were increased and the level of serum HDL-C was reduced. The activities of LPL and HL and expressions of LDLR and PPARgamma mRNAs in the untreated group were lower than those in the normal control group. After treatment, high-dose HJD significantly improved hyperlipemia by decreasing TC, TAG and LDL-C and increasing HDL-C. The activities of LPL and HL and expression levels of LDLR and PPARgamma mRNAs in liver tissues were also markedly enhanced in the high-dose HJD group as compared with those in the untreated group.
Conclusion: HJD can activate the activity of lipid metabolism enzyme, and enhance the expressions of LDLR and PPARgamma mRNAs to modulate the lipid metabolic disorders in rats with hyperlipidemia.