Efficacy of Muerchongcao on Reducing Serun Lipidin Hyperlipidemic Rats

Efficacy of Muerchongcao capsules (MC)that contained the medicinal ingredients from Auricularia auricular(L. ex Hook) Underwood and Cordyceps militaris militaris(Fr.) Linkon the serum lipid reduction in Sprague-Dawley rats with hyperlipidemia induced by a high fat diet was studied. A4-week high fat diet followed by another 4 weeks of MC treatments was the feeding program applied on the lab rats. Three levels of dosage,i.e.,27, 54, and 81 mgkg-1d-1 of MC as low-, medium-, and high-dosegroups, respectively, were administeredby gavage to the rats. A control group without MC treatment along with a blank group fed with the basal diet and physiological saline was used simultaneously during the experiment. The serum lipid, heptic metabolism, and intestinal absorption and metabolism of the hyperlipidemic rats were monitored. The serum low-density lipoprotein cholesterol(LDL-C) of the rats in the low-dose MC treatment group, the serum total cholesterol(TC) in the medium-dose group, the serum TC,LDL-C, and total triglycerides (TG) in the high-dose group were found significantly lower than those in control group(P0.01). The high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C)in the treatment groups did not significantly differ from that in control group(P0.05). The atherogenic index(AI) of the rats in the medium-dose and high-dose groups decreased significantly as compared to control. The liver index, hepatic lobule structure, and fatty degeneration in therats of MC treatment groups were better than those in control group, whereas, the villus:cryptratio (VCR) was significantly reduced. It appearedthat MC demonstrated a hypolipidemic and anti-atherogenic effect on the hyperlipidemic rats, as well as an ability to partially repair the liver damage induced by the high fat diet and reduce VCR inhibiting the absorption of dietary and biliary cholesterol in the small intestine of the rats.