Effect of Tephrosia tinctoria in Triton WR-1339 and High Cholesterol-Diet Induced Hyperlipidemic Rats

Tephrosia tinctoria is widely used traditional medicine as antimicrobial, larvicidal, antidiabetic and many other related diseases. The whole plant of Tephrosia tinctoria extracts were assessed for their lipidlowering activity. Materials and methods: Triton-WR-1339 induced and high cholesterol-diet (HCD) induced hyperlipidemic rats were used to evaluate the antihyperlipidemic effects of chloroform and ethanolic extracts of Tephrosia tinctoria. Hyperlipidemia was induced in rats by single intraperitoneal administration of Triton-WR-1339 200 mg/kg b.w in acute model and by feeding cholesterol 400 mg/kg b.w along with normal diet in chronic model rats. Parameters such as serum lipid profile was assessed to demonstrate the antihyperlipidemic effect of extracts. SOD, catalase, GSH and LPO assays were used to measure the antioxidant capacity of the phenolic constituents present in extracts. Histopathology of rat liver tissue were evaluated. Both the chloroform and ethanolic extracts of Tephrosia tinctoria were effective in lowering the levels of total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C) levels with consequent increase in the levels of high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C) in acute and chronic hyperlipidemic models. Furthermore, the extracts were effective in increasing the levels of SOD, catalase and GSH, and decreasing the LPO levels. In addition, the protective effects of Tephrosia tinctoria was confirmed by histopathological observations. The effect of the extracts was comparable with that of the standard simvastatin.The results thus obtained were suggestive of hypolipidemic activity of the Tephrosia tinctoria extracts and may be an important source of natural compounds that can be utilized in the treatment of hyperlipidemia.