Antihyperlipidemic effect of Tephrosia villosa in acute and chronic hyperlipidemia rat models

Atherosclerosis plays a pivotal role in various cardiovascular disorders. Most of the antiatherogenic currently available drugs are associated with many side effects than plant derived formulations. Tephrosia villosa(Fabaceae) plant is being used traditionally, in the treatment of hyperlipidemia, diabetes, jaundice and used as antioxidant and antimicrobial.The objective of the current experiment is to evaluate the antihyperlipidemic potency of chloroform (CETV) and ethanolic extract of Tephrosia villosa(EETV) in acute (Triton WR-1339 induced) and chronic (cholesterol diet-induced) hyperlipidemia models.Simvastatin, standard drug used to compare the effect of the both extracts at 125mg/kg, 250mg/kg and 500mg/kg b.w). The serum lipid parameters were analysed using enzymatic kits. The preliminary phytochemical screening of extracts of Tephrosia villosashowed the presence of phenols, flavonoids, saponins, coumarins, glycosides and alkaloids. In acute model, the pretreatment with both extracts for 7 days showed significant reduction (p<0.001) in serum triglycerides (TG), total cholesterol (TC), very low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (VLDL-C) and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels, and subsequent rise (p<0.01) in high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) levels after 24h tritonisation in hyperlipidemic rats. Similarly, in chronic hyperlipidemia model, all the lipid (TG, TC, LDL-C & VLDL-C) levels were reduced significantly (p<0.001) with successive rise in HDL-C levelafter 30 days of study with 15 days of extract treatment.The current study indicatesthe antihyperlipidemic activity of Tephrosia villosais probably due to the phenolic constituents in extracts,which may inhibit HMG CoA reductase or activatelipoprotein lipase and lecithin acyl transferase (LCAT). The results would provide a larger insight in design and development of newer therapeutics for a wide arena of lifestyle disorders.