Indian Journal of Biochemistry & Biophysics Vol. 48, February 2011, pp. 54-58 Note Evaluation of antihyperlipidemic activity of ethanolic extract of Cassia auriculata flowers Panneer Selvam Vijayaraj, Kannan Muthukumar, Jayaraja Sabarirajan and Vasanthi Nachiappan* Biomembrane Lab, Department of Biochemistry, School of Life Sciences, Bharathidasan University,Tiruchirappalli 620 024, India Received 30 July 2010; revised 27 December 2010 Hyperlipidemia is a major risk factor for development of coronary artery disease. Cassia auriculata is traditionally used in India for medicinal purposes. In this study, effect of ethanolic extract of Cassia auriculata flowers (Et-CAF) was investigated in Triton WR1339-induced hyperlipidemic rats. Treatment with the Et-CAF (450 mg/kg b.wt) significantly reduced the total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG) and low-density lipoprotein- cholesterol (LDL) levels and significantly increased the high- density lipoprotein (HDL) level associated with reduction of atherogenic index in hyperlipidemic rats. However, there was no change in the serum lipid profile of normal rats treated with Et-CAF alone. The results suggest that Et-CAF has a beneficial effect in treating hyperlipidemia and may serve as a potential drug for prevention of hyperlipidemic atherosclerosis. Keywords: Atherosclerosis, Hyperlipidemia, Triglycerides, Cholesterol, Cassia auriculata, Antihyperlipidemic activity Hypercholesterolemia and hypertriglyceridemia are major risk factors either alone or together and accelerate the development of coronary artery disease, progression of atherosclerosis 1 , myocardial infarction, heart attack, and cerebrovascular diseases 2 . High levels of cholesterol, particularly low-density lipoprotein (LDL) accumulate in the extra-cellular subendothelial space of arteries and can undergo oxidative modifications, which is highly atherogenic and toxic to vascular cells 3,4 . In addition to atherosclerosis, this can cause a variety of serious diseases such as hypertension, obesity, diabetes, functional depression of some organs, etc. Lipids undergo peroxidative change in the arterial wall and eventually result in tissue injury. Lipid lowering drugs like fibrates, statins and bile acid sequestrants used in the treatment of hyperlipidemia possess toxic side effect 5 . Therefore, , there is an urgent need to have a lipid lowering drug with no side effects. A number of herbal medicines are used for controlling hyperlipidemia and related complications in patients 6 . Cassia auriculata L. (Cesalpinaceae, common name: Tanner’s Cassia), a common plant in Asia has been widely used in traditional medicine for rheumatism, conjunctivitis and diabetes 7 . It is widely used in Ayurvedic medicine as ‘Avarai Panchaga Choornam’ and as a constituent of Kalpa herbal tea. It is also reported to possess antiperoxidative and antihyperlipidemic effect in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats 8-11 . A number of constituents such as polysaccharides, flavonoids, anthracene derivatives, dimeric procyanidins and β-sitosterol 12 have been reported in C. auriculata. However, reports on hyperlipidemic animal models are lacking. In the present investigation, we have studied the effect of ethanolic extract on C. auriculata flower (Et-CAF) on the serum lipid levels, including total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) in triton WR-1339 (TWR)-induced hyperlipidemic rats. Materials and Methods Chemicals Triton WR-1339 was purchased from Acros organic (Thermo Fisher Scientific, USA), cholesterol, glucose, bovine serum albumin and all other chemicals were obtained from M/s Merck Specialties Private Ltd and M/s Himedia Laboratory, Mumbai, India. All chemicals used were of analytical grade. Preparation of flowers ethanolic extract Fresh Cassia auriculata flowers collected from Bharathidasan University Campus, Tiruchirappalli, Tamilnadu, India were dried under shade thoroughly and powdered. About 100 g of dry flower powder was extracted with 80% ethanol at 80°C for 3 h and the procedure was repeated thrice. The combined ethanolic extract was concentrated in rotary evaporator at reduced pressure to obtain ~22.33% w/w of extract and it was stored at 4 0 C until further use. During the study, the residual extract was suspended in distilled water and orally administered to the hyperlipidemic rats. —————— *Corresponding author: E-mail: vasanthibch@gmail.com Tel: +91- 431- 2904866 Fax: +91- 431- 2407045