Cholesterol-lowering activity of the aqueous extract of Spergularia purpurea in normal and recent-onset diabetic rats

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of single and repeated oral administration of the aqueous extract of Spergularia purpurea (SP) at a dose of 10 mg/kg in normal and streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats. In normal rats, the aqueous extract of SP induced a significant decrease of the plasma cholesterol concentrations 6 h after a single oral administration ( P<0.05) and 2 weeks after repeated oral administration ( P<0.05). The plasma triglycerides levels increased significantly 6 h after a single oral administration ( P<0.05) and decreased 2 weeks after repeated oral administration ( P<0.05). In diabetic rats, SP treatment caused a significant decrease of plasma cholesterol levels after a single ( P<0.01) and repeated ( P<0.01) oral administration. A significant increase of triglycerides levels was observed 6 h after a single oral administration of the SP aqueous extract ( P<0.01). One week after repeated oral administration of SP aqueous extract, the plasma triglycerides levels were significantly decreased ( P<0.005) and still dropped after 2 weeks ( P<0.01). On the other hand, the repeated oral administration of SP aqueous extract caused a significant decrease of body weight after 2 weeks of treatment in both normal ( P<0.001) and diabetic ( P<0.01) rats. We conclude that the aqueous extract of SP exhibits a cholesterol and body weight-lowering activities in both normal and severe hyperglycaemic rats.