Abstract
Objectives : In Oriental Medicine, hyperlipidemia is considered as phlegm retention (痰飮) and blood stasis (瘀血). Typhae pollen helps remove blood stasis and hemorrhage, and it also has an effect of relieving pain caused by blood stasis. The purpose of this study is to investigate the preventive effects of Typhae pollen on diet-induced hyperlipidemia in rats. Methods : Thirty-two male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into normal, control and treated groups. The control and treated groups were fed with a 1.5% cholesterol diet over 4 weeks, and extract of Typhae pollen was administered to the treated group during the same period. Blood samples were collected from each animal at 0 and 4 weeks and used for the blood chemical analysis. Animals were sacrificed at 4 weeks and chemical analysis was performed on the collected liver samples. Results : The serum total cholesterol ($122.45{\pm}4.96mg/dL$), LDL-cholesterol ($54.27{\pm}4.95mg/dL$), and triglyceride ($122.00{\pm}7.33mg/dL$) values of the treated group were significantly lower compared with the serum total cholesterol ($147.91{\pm}7.22mg/dL$), LDL-cholesterol ($81.91{\pm}8.34mg/dL$), and triglyceride ($169.27{\pm}12.34mg/dL$) values of the control group. The liver total cholesterol (TEX>$230.18<{\pm}18.81mg/dL$) values of the treated group were significantly higher compared with the liver total cholesterol ($178.54{\pm}$10.11mg/dL) values of the control group. Conclusions : On the basis of these results, it is confirmed that Typhae pollen has preventive effects on diet-induced hyperlipidemia in rats.
