Thymus atlanticus (Ball) Roussine Aqueous Extract Exerts Lipid-lowering and Anti-atherosclerotic Effects in Hyperlipidemic Guinea Pigs.

BACKGROUND: Thymus atlanticus (Ball) Roussine (T. atlanticus) is traditionally used in the Moroccan high Atlas Mountains to treat several disorders, including cardiovascular disease. In the present study, the lipid-lowering and anti-atherosclerotic activities of the traditionally used aqueous extract of T. atlanticus were evaluated on guinea pigs subjected to chronic hyperlipidemia. METHODS: Animals were given a diet containing 2% cholesterol and 20% lard for 12 weeks. Moreover, thyme extract was given daily at 400 mg/kg. At the end of the experiment, lipid levels and paraoxonase arylesterase activity were measured, and aorta histology was studied. RESULTS: Our findings revealed that there was an important elevation of blood lipids in the HFD group along with a significant decrease in paraoxonase arylesterase activity (-40.06%). Moreover, the consumption of fat altered the histology of aorta by thickening the intima media and forming atherosclerotic lesions and foam cells in these tissues. However, the administration of thyme extract attenuated HFD-caused alterations by decreasing blood lipids, elevating paraoxonase activity (+24.04%), and limiting the progression of atherosclerotic lesions. CONCLUSION: We conclude that the supplementation with the aqueous extract of T. atlanticus could potentially protect against hyperlipidemia and consequently, the development of atherosclerosis.

Anti-Inflammatory Study and Phytochemical Characterization of Zingiber officinale Roscoe and Citrus limon L. Juices and Their Formulation.

Zingiber officinale and Citrus limon, well known as ginger and lemon, are two vegetals widely used in traditional medicine and the culinary field. The juices of the two vegetals were evaluated based on their inflammation, both in vivo and in vitro. High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was used to characterize different juices from Zingiber officinale Roscoe and Citrus limon. After the application of the HPLC method, different compounds were identified, such as 6-gingerol and 6-gingediol from the ginger juice and isorhamnetin and hesperidin from the lemon juice. In addition, the two juices and their formulation were assessed for their anti-inflammatory activity, in vitro by utilizing the BSA denaturation test, in vivo using the carrageenan-induced inflammation test, and the vascular permeability test. Important and statistically significant anti-inflammatory activities were observed for all juices, especially the formulation. The results of our work showed clearly that the Zingiber officinale and Citrus limon juices protect in vivo the development of the rat paw edema, especially the formulation F composed of the Zingiber officinale and Citrus limon juices, which shows an anti-inflammatory activity equal to -35.95% and -44.05% using 10 and 20 mg/kg of the dose, respectively. Our work also showed that the formulation was the most effective tested extract since it inhibits the vascular permeability by -37% and -44% at the doses of 200 and 400 mg/kg, respectively, and in vitro via the inhibition of the denaturation of BSA by giving a synergetic effect with the highest IC50 equal to 684.61 ± 7.62 µg/mL corresponding to the formulation F. This work aims to develop nutraceutical preparations in the future and furnishes the support for a new investigation into the activities of the various compounds found in Zingiber officinale Roscoe and Citrus limon.

Ginger (Zingiber officinale Roscoe), Lemon (Citrus limon L.) Juices as Preventive Agents from Chronic Liver Damage Induced by CCl4: A Biochemical and Histological Study.

Zingiber officinale Roscoe and Citrus limon L. are well known for their multi-use and for their pharmacological effect in the treatment of many illnesses. This study aims to investigate the chemical composition of the ginger and lemon juice extracts and in addition, to evaluate their antioxidant properties and their hepatoprotective effect against the liver damage of Wistar rats induced by the injection of CCl4 to treated animals. The obtained effects were completed by a histological study for better confirmation of the registered pharmacological effects. The ginger juice extract was found to be rich in 4-gingerol, 6-gingediol, and 6-gingerol, while the lemon juice extract chemical composition was highlighted by the presence of eriodyctiol, rutin, hesperidin, and isorhamnetin. Concerning the antioxidant activity, the ginger, lemon juice extracts, and their formulation showed an important antioxidant potential using TAC (total antioxidant capacity), an antiradical activity against the radical DPPH• (2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazil), and a ferric reducing power. Finally, the ginger, lemon, and their formulation at different doses were able to prevent CCl4 induced liver damage. Indeed, these different bioactive compounds could be used as alternative agents for the treatment of chronic liver diseases.

Toxicological Evaluation and Hepatoprotective Efficacy of Rosmarinic Acid-Rich Extract from Ocimum basilicum L.

Exposure to carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) induces acute and chronic liver injuries as well as oxidative stress in rats. The present study was designed to evaluate the in vivo toxicity of rosmarinic acid-rich extract from Ocimum basilicum (RAE). The acute and subchronic oral toxicity of RAE was evaluated in Albinos mice. Hepatotoxicity was induced by the administration of CCl4-induced hepatic injury in rats. The hepatoprotective effect of RAE on aspartate aminotransferase, alanine transaminase, alkaline phosphatase, lactate dehydrogenase, bilirubin, total protein, albumin, triglycerides, total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein, high-density lipoprotein, plasmatic glucose, urea, creatinine, and malondialdehyde was determined in CCl4-intoxicated rat. The extract did not produce treatment-related signs of toxicity or mortality in any of the animals tested during acute as well as subchronic toxicity studies. The administration of CCl4 resulted in marked increase in plasma hepatic enzymes (p < 0.001) and significant decrease of total protein (p < 0.001) and albumin (p < 0.001) when compared to normal. The RAE at 200 mg/kg body weight lowered significantly (p < 0.001) plasma enzyme activities of liver, which is designation of hepatoprotective action of extract. The phenolic extract exerts a significant increase in total protein (p < 0.001), and albumin (p < 0.001), accompanied with a marked reduction in the levels of malondialdehyde (p < 0.001), as compared to CCl4-treated group. Our study suggests that RAE may be used as a hepatoprotective agent against toxic effects caused by CCl4 and other chemical agents in the liver.

Nigella sativa L. Phytochemistry and Pharmacological Activities: A Review (2019-2021).

Medicinal and aromatic plants are mainly characterized by the presence of different bioactive compounds which exhibit various therapeutic activities. In order to investigate the different pharmacological properties of different Nigella sativa extracts, a multitude of research articles published in the period between 2019 and 2021 were obtained from different databases (Scopus, Science Direct, PubMed, and Web of Science), and then explored and analyzed. The analysis of the collected articles allows us to classify the phytochemicals and the pharmacological activities through their underlying molecular mechanisms, as well as to explore the pharmacological activities exhibited by several identified compounds in Nigella sativa which allow a better understanding, and better elucidation, of the bioactive compounds responsible for the pharmacological effects. Also shown are the existence of other bioactive compounds that are still unexplored and could be of great interest. This review could be taken as a guide for future studies in the field.

Phenolic-Rich Extract from Almond (Prunus dulcis) Hulls Improves Lipid Metabolism in Triton WR-1339 and High-Fat Diet-Induced Hyperlipidemic Mice and Prevents Lipoprotein Oxidation: A Comparison with Fenofibrate and Butylated Hydroxyanisole.

Hyperlipidemia and oxidative stress are risk factors for atherosclerosis. In this study, we investigated the hypolipidemic and anti-lipoprotein oxidation activities of polyphenol-rich extracts from almond hulls using Triton WR-1339 and high-fat diet-induced hyperlipemic mice as experimental models. We demonstrated that the almond hull extract significantly reduced total cholesterol, triglycerides and low-density lipoprotein-related plasma cholesterol (LDL-C) in the two experimental models of hyperlipidemia, but significantly increased high-density lipoprotein-related plasma cholesterol (HDL-C). Another beneficial effect of the extract was its ability to reduce the atherogenic index and LDL-C/HDL-C ratio. However, the extract exhibited effective antiradical activity against 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl and significantly protected lipoprotein-rich plasma from mice against oxidation induced by copper ion. The extract contains 342.63±3.44 mg/g total phenolics, 144.67±6.83 mg/g tannins, and 20.66±0.92 mg/g flavonoids. These finding indicate that almond hulls contain polar products able to lower plasma lipid concentrations and which might be beneficial for the treatment of hyperlipidemia and prevention of atherosclerosis.

In Vitro Antioxidant and In Vivo Lipid-Lowering Properties of Zingiber officinale Crude Aqueous Extract and Methanolic Fraction: A Follow-Up Study.

Over the past decades, cardiovascular diseases have become the leading cause of death all over the world, and among these diseases there is atherosclerosis caused mainly by an increase in plasmatic cholesterol levels and by strong oxidation caused by free radicals. For these reasons and others, we explored in this report the hypolipidemic and the antioxidant effects of Zingiber officinale crude aqueous and methanolic extract. The hypolipidemic study was carried out in high-fat-fed mice model. Animals were subdivided into four groups and were orally treated with the aqueous extract once daily for twelve weeks at two doses: 250 and 500 mg/Kg. During the treatment, the body weight, total cholesterol, triglycerides, and high-density lipoproteins have been defined every four weeks. The antioxidant activity has been studied using radical scavenging activity, ß-carotene bleaching, reducing power assay, and the TBARs tests. The daily oral administration of the extracts for twelve weeks significantly improved the lipid profile in a dose-dependent manner, from the first until the twelfth week, and also showed a significant antioxidant effect. These findings may be potentially contributive to the validation of the medicinal use of Z. officinale to treat hyperlipidemia and cardiovascular complications.

Chemical composition and oral toxicity assessment of Anisophyllea boehmii kernel oil: Potential source of new edible oil with high tocopherol content.

Anisophyllea boehmii is an indigenous and wild species in Burundi. Its fruits are edible and commercialized in local markets. This study investigates chemical quality, composition and toxicity test of A. boehmii kernel oil from two sites in eastern Burundi. Results of the present study reveal A. boehmii kernels to be an oil-rich source, yielding up to 29% of oil. Fatty acid composition analysis classifies these oils as palmitic. In fact, the main fatty acids are palmitic acid (36.47-39.55%) and oleic acid (18.83-22.21%). The analysis of minor compounds shows high tocopherols (485-657 mg kg-1), phenols (82-135 mg kg-1) and ß-carotene (144-234 mg kg-1) content. The physicochemical parameters analyzed make A. boehmii kernel a source of good quality oil. Furthermore, acute oral toxicity test reveals no toxicity of A. boehmii kernel oil. Results of the present study are decisive in adoption of A. boehmii kernel oil as an alternative source of edible oil.