Antihyperlipidaemic effect of triterpenic acid-enriched fraction from Cyclocarya paliurus leaves in hyperlipidaemic rats

Abstract

Context: Cyclocarya paliurus (Batal) Iljinskaja (Juglandaceae) is an edible and medicinal plant; the leaves are used in Chinese folkloric medicine to treat dyslipidaemia and diabetes.

Objective: This study evaluates the antihyperlipidaemic potential of the triterpenic acid-enriched fraction (TAE) from C. paliurus and the underlying mechanism.

Materials and methods: The hyperlipidaemic rats were induced by high fat diet for 6 weeks. After oral administration of TAE (200 and 400 mg/kg), the neutral fraction (150 and 300 mg/kg) and statin (4 mg/kg) to the hyperlipidaemic rats for 4 weeks, lipid profile and apolipoprotein (apoB48) level in plasma, and the expression levels of apoB48, microsomal triglyceride transfer protein (MTP), phosphorylation of mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) and tumour necrosis factor α (TNF-α) in intestine were examined. The main constituents in the TAE were identified by HPLC-MS.

Results: TAE administration (400 mg/kg) decreased the levels of atherogenic lipids in serum and liver (p < 0.05) and increased serum high-density lipoprotein cholesterol by 19.7%. Furthermore, TAE treatment (200 and 400 mg/kg) decreased plasma apoB48 level by 15.3 and 19.5%, downregulated intestinal apoB48 and MTP expression levels (p < 0.05), and inhibited TNF-α expression by 36.2 and 56.2% and the phosphorylation level of MAPK by 8.8 and 13.2%, respectively. HPLC analysis revealed the presence of pentacyclic- and tetracyclic-triterpene acids in TAE.

Conclusion and discussion: These findings suggested that TAE possessed antihyperlipidaemic activity partially involved in the inhibitory effect on apoB48 overproduction, which may provide evidence about its potential role in ameliorating dyslipidaemia.

Keywords:

• Apolipoprotein B48
• Microsomal triglyceride transfer protein
• Tumor necrosis factor-alpha
• Mitogen-activated protein kinase

Acknowledgements

The authors thank Prof. Minjian Qin (China Pharmaceutical University) for authenticating the plant material.

Disclosure statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Funding

This work was partially sponsored by the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province (No. BK20161460), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 81503316), College Students Innovation Project for the R&D of Novel Drugs (No. J1030830), the Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Educational Institutions and the development program for the Young and Middle-Aged Teachers of Common Colleges and Universities of JiangXi.