Anti-atherosclerosis and hyperlipidemia effects of herbal mixture, Artemisia iwayomogi Kitamura and Curcuma longa Linne, in apolipoprotein E-deficient mice

Ethnopharmacolgical relevance: Artemisia iwayomogi Kitamura and Curcuma longa Linne. (ACE) has been popularly used to treat atherosclerosis as well as hyperlipidemia in the Asian countries. Objective: Antiatherosclerotic and anti-hyperlipidemic effects of ACE were evaluated at protein and gene expression level by using apoE(-/-) mice. Method: Apoprotein E deficient (apoE(-/-)) mice were randomly divided into five groups and fed freely Western diet (WD) which contained ACE (50, 100 and 200 mg/kg) or curcumin (50 mg/kg). The C57/BLJ mice were used as normal and which were fed the WD. After 10 weeks of being fed the WD, the atherosclerosis related mediators and hyperlipidemia induced hepatic steatosis were analyzed in serum, aorta tissue or hepatic tissues. Results: Ten-week feeding of WD considerably increased the serum lipid profiles including total cholesterol (TC), low density lipoprotein, high density lipoprotein (HDL), triglyceride, TC/HDL ratio and glucose, and also elevated the total reactive oxygen species (ROS) and inflammatory cytokines (tumor necrosis factor-alpha, TNF-alpha; and interlukin-6, IL-6) in the serum levels. ACE treatment significantly resolved these alterations. The aortic lesion formation was significantly decreased as were lipid formations by ACE treatment. Moreover, ACE not only caused significant decreases of the lipid drops on the hepatic tissues, but also restored the antioxidant components. The gene expression levels including SREBP-1c, FAS, SCD1, PPAR-alpha, CPT-1, IL-6, IL-1 beta and TNF-alpha in hepatic tissue were altered by Western diet fed in apoE(-/-) mice, while ACE treatment significantly normalized those alterations. Conclusions: The ACE treatment is beneficial for atherosclerosis in arterial area and hyperlipidemia induced hepatic tissue steatosis. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.