Medical School , Mashhad University of Medical Sciences . Mashhad. Iran , h-parsaee@mums.ac.ir
Abstract: (3991 Views)
The effects of ethanolic and aqueous extracts of Rheum ribs L. (RR) of the
family polygonaceae was studied on serum cholesterol concentration in rabbits.
To induce hypercholesterolemia, 0.5 g/kg/day of pure cholesterol powder was
given orally to each rabbit for two weeks then cholesterol was halved and each
group of animals was treated with a different regimen for another two weeks.
Both the ethanolic and the aqueous extracts significantly decreased serum
cholesterol conc-entration. The ethanolic extract decreased serum cholesterol by
the end of the first and the second week by 43.9% and 59.1% (both p<0.001)
respectively while the cholesterol reduction with aqueous extract was 25.01%
(p<0.05) and 43.82% (p<0.0 1) at the end of the first and the second week of
treatment respectively. The ethanolic extract was found to be more potent than
the aqueous one. When comp- ared with nicotinic acid as a positive control, the
hypocholesterolemic effect of ethanolic extract was significantly higher than that
of nicotinic acid. Therefore, we may conclude that RR extracts have hypocholesterolemic
effect and thus can be used in the treatment of hypercholesterolemia
which is the major risk factor of cor-onary heart disease (CHD).