ABSTRACT
The research aimed to investigate the suppression effect of MaiShu which contains hawthorn, hippophae, medlar, phytosterols (β-sitosterol, stigmasterol and campesterol), β-glucan and lycopeneon formation of atherosclerotic plaque in apolipoprotein E knock-out (ApoE-/-) mice. Liquid chromatography-ultraviolet-mass spectrometry (LC-UV-MC) methods were used to analyze the main chemical composition of MaiShu.Atherosclerotic mice models were established by high-fat diet. The mice were administrated with MaiShu (1, 2, 4 g·kg-1·d-1) or other contrast materials by intragastric route for 10 weeks continuously. At the end of administration, the blood of mice was collected for tests of the serum total cholesterol (TC), total triglyceride (TG) and high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) level. Atherosclerotic lesions in aorta and aortic root were assessed by calculating the relative area of lesions (oil red O stained). Intravital fluorescence microscopic system was used to evaluate the leukocyte-endothelial adhesion in mesenteric artery of mice by detecting the rolling velocity of white blood cells (WBC). Collagenous fibers and macrophages in lesions were detected by sirius red staining and immunological histological chemistry to evaluate the atherosclerotic plaque stability. Results showed that MaiShu contains various flavonoids (9.5%), phytosterols (23.8%) and polysaccharides (8.9%). The serum lipid level of model animals was significantly higher than the control animals. Serum TC level was decreased by MaiShu (4 g·kg-1, P-1) compared to model (P-1, P-1, P-1, P-1, P-1, P-1) and macrophages were decreased (2, 4 g·kg-1) compared to model. These results demonstrate that MaiShu can obviously decrease the serum lipid levels and the risk of leukocyte-endothelial adhesion in ApoE-/- mice. The effect of MaiShu may be associated with the decrease of macrophages in plaque.