ABSTRACT
Abstract Plants are a large source of new bioactive molecules with therapeutic potentials. However, only a small amount of worldwide plants have been phytochemically investigated. The aqueous and ethanolic extracts of Pistacia lentiscus L., Anacardiaceae, leaves were evaluated for hypocholesterolemic activity in vivo. In this study, hypercholesterolemia was induced in animals by feeding them high cholesterol (1%) food. The extracts of P. lentiscus were orally administered at a dose of 200 mg/kg body weight along with a high cholesterol diet for thirty successive days. Lipid parameters such as total cholesterol, triacylglyceride, low density lipoprotein, very low density lipoprotein and high density lipoprotein were measured in the plasma. Total phenol and flavonoid contents were also evaluated. Flavonoid content was found to be more present in the ethanolic extract (8.218 ± 0.009 mg of QE/g) compared to the aqueous extract (3.107 ± 0.014 mg of QE/g). The administration of P. lentiscus extracts produced a significant decrease in total cholesterol, triacylglyceride and low density lipoprotein-cholesterol (154.6 ± 18.10, 71.2 ± 4.38 and 99.36 ± 18.77 mg/dl respectively) in the ethanolic extract, while the aqueous extract showed a significant decrease in total cholesterol and triacylglyceride (203.6 ± 9.18 and 97.6 ± 3.57 mg/dl respectively). The results of the investigation demonstrated that P. lentiscus leaf extract has hypocholesterolemic properties and might be used for the prevention of hypercholesterolemia associated disorders.