Antihyperlipidemic activity of Ichnocarpus frutescens in triton WR-1339-induced and high-fat diet animals

Abstract

Context: Ichnocarpus frutescens (L.) R.Br. (Apocynaceae) is used to treat diabetes and hyperlipidemia in folk medicine.

Objective: The crude methanol extract and fractions of I. frutescens were investigated for antihyperlipidemic effect.

Materials and methods: Fresh leaves of I. frutescens were extracted with methanol and fractionated with hexane, benzene, ethyl acetate, acetone, and methanol. The active acetone fraction was subfractionated, which resulted in active fraction 3. The antihyperlipidemic effects of the methanol extract and fractions of I. frutescens were studied in triton WR-1339-induced and high-fat diet (HFD) obese animals. Further, lipid absorption and excretion were studied.

Results and discussion: The methanol extract significantly reduced total cholesterol (TC) by 29.63% and triglyceride (Tg) by 51.10% at 400 mg/kg in triton WR-1339-induced animals and significantly reduced TC (27.81%) and Tg (37.03%) at 400 mg/kg in HFD animals. Fraction 3 showed significant reduction in TC (25.03%) and Tg (58.05%) at 200 mg/kg. Feeding of HFD consisting 3% of fraction 3 increased feces weight and Tg level in mice. Fraction 3, showed significant decrease in plasma Tg level at the second hour, after oral administration of the lipid emulsion to rats.

Conclusion: The observed properties apparently validate the folk medicinal use of this plant in amelioration of hyperlipidemia.

Keywords::

• Obesity
• hyperlipidemia
• bioassay-guided fractionation

Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to Dr. K. Balakrishna, (Central Drug Research Institute for Siddha, Chennai, India) for assisting in phytochemistry standardization. The authors are grateful to Entomology Research Institute for financial assistance.

Declaration of interest

The authors report no declarations of interest.