Effects of the Traditional Chinese Medicine berberine on antiatheroscloresis and antioxidant activities in hyperlipoidemic model rats

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effects of the Traditional Chinese Medicine berberine on blood lipid and antioxidation ability in hyperlipoidemic model rats. METHODS: Ten rats were randomly chosen as control group, and other rats were used to establish hyperllipemia rat models. Successfully molding rats were randomly divided into model group, berberine low dose group(100 mg/kg), medium dose group(200 mg/kg), high dose group(300 mg/kg), and xuezhikang group(200 mg/kg), 10 rats in each group. Each rat received gavage per day continually for 30 days. Diacylgycerol acyltransferase (DGAT), 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A (HMG-CoA), hepatic triglycerides lipase (HTGL), cholesterol 7a-hydroxylase (CYP7A), triglyceride (TG), total cholesterol (TC), low density lipoprotein (LDL), high-density lipoprotein (HDL), malondialdehyde (MDA), glutathion peroxidase (GSH-Px) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) levels were monitored. RESULTS: The Traditional Chinese Medicine berberine could obviously decrease the liver coefficient and the contents of TC, TG, LDL-C and increase the serum content of HDL-C in hyperlipoidemia rats. The Traditional Chinese Medicine berberine decrease the levels of MDA, DGAT, HMG-CoA and increase the activities of HTGL, CYP7A, SOD and GSH-Px in liver tissue. CONCLUSIONS: The Traditional Chinese Medicine berberine could decrease the blood lipid level and prevent the lipid peroxidation damage in hyperlidemia rats.