Hypolipidemic effect of azima tetracantha on lipid profile markers of carbon tetrachloride induced liver toxicity in rats
This study was aimed at evaluating the hypolipidemic effects of ethanolic extract of Azima tetracantha leaves against liver toxicity induced by carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) in male albino Wistar rats and to compare the same with the reference drug silymarin. Six groups of rats with six rats in each group were used as the experimental subject. Animals were allocated into a control group and liver toxicity control group. The remaining four groups received in addition to CCl4, silymarin (20 mg/kg/d) as a reference treatment and Azima tetracantha (100, 200 and 400mg/kg/d). Once the experiment period was completed, the biomarkers of lipid profile, including total cholesterol, serum triglycerides, high-density lipoprotein (HDL) and low-density lipoprotein (LDL)] were evaluated. Azima tetracantha significantly decreased the serum lipid profile markers cholesterol, triglycerides, phospholipids, fatty acids, VLDL, LDL, and increased HDL. Azima tetracantha could be a promising protective agent against cholesterol through the improvement of liver function, modulation of CCl4 by-products formation and thus has hypolipidemic potentials.