RESUMEN
Objective To investigate the effects of hawthorn powder, refined konjac flour and their compound on the levels of lipid and NO in plasma of rats being induced to hyperlipidemia by high-fat and high-cholesterol diet. Methods Fifty adult Wistar rats were randomly divided into five groups which were fed with normal diet, high-fat and high-cholesterol diet (HFD), HFD plus hawthorn powder, HFD plus refined konjac flour, HFD plus hawthorn and konjac compound, respectively. At week 4 and 8, 20 and 30 rats respectively were sacrificed for detecting the levels of lipid and NO in the blood. Results Hawthorn powder, refined konjac flour and their compound could significantly inhibit the increase of blood total cholesterol, triglycerol, VLDL-C, LDL-C induced by HFD and can significantly increase HDL-C and NO in plasma. Conclusion Hawthorn powder, refined konjac flour and their compound have the lipid-lowering effect. The hawthorn and konjac compound has better effects on increasing HDL-D and reducing VLDL-C. So they are beneficial to the prevention of atherosclerosis.