Research Article Effect of Stellaria media Tea on Lipid Profile in Rats Vir´ agDemj´ an , 1,2,3 Tivadar Kiss , 2,4 Andrea Siska , 5 M´ artonRich´ ardSzab´ o , 1,2,3 M´ artaS´ ark¨ ozy , 1,2,3 ImreF¨ oldesi, 5 Dezso˝Csupor , 2,4 andTam´ as Csont 1,2,3 1 UniversityofSzeged,FacultyofMedicine,DepartmentofBiochemistry,MetabolicDiseasesandCellSignalingGroup(MEDICS), 6720 Szeged, D´ om t´ er 9, Hungary 2 University of Szeged, Interdisciplinary Centre for Natural Products, 6720 Szeged, E¨ otv¨ os utca 6, Hungary 3 University of Szeged, Interdisciplinary Centre of Excellence, 6720 Szeged, Dugonics t´ er 13, Hungary 4 University of Szeged, Faculty of Pharmacy, Department of Pharmacognosy, 6720 Szeged, E¨ otv¨ os utca 6, Hungary 5 University of Szeged, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Laboratory Medicine, 6725 Szeged, Semmelweis utca 6, Hungary Correspondence should be addressed to Dezső Csupor; csupor.dezso@pharmacognosy.hu and Tam´ as Csont; csont.tamas@med.u-szeged.hu Received 16 August 2019; Revised 21 December 2019; Accepted 3 January 2020; Published 25 January 2020 Academic Editor: Sokcheon Pak Copyright©2020Vir´ agDemj´ an et al. is is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Background. In folk medicine, common chickweed (Stellaria media) has traditionally been applied for the treatment of hy- percholesterolemia; however, there is no firm experimental proof to support the rationale of this practice. erefore, we aimed to assess the efficacy and safety of Stellaria media tea in hypercholesterolemic rats. Materials and Methods. Adult male Wistar rats were divided into 3 groups. e (i) control group received standard laboratory chow, the (ii) hypercholesterolemic group received cholesterol-enriched diet, and the (iii) chickweed-treated hypercholesterolemic group received cholesterol-enriched diet and 100 mg/kg body weight Stellariamedia tea lyophilizate for 8 weeks. Blood samples were collected to determine serum lipid profile as well as liver and kidney function, and echocardiography was performed to assess cardiac morphology and function. Results. Cholesterol-enriched diet significantly increased serum total cholesterol, LDL- and HDL-cholesterol levels, but did not affect triacylglycerol concentrations. e addition of chickweed to the diet did not cause any significant change in serum lipid profile or body weight increase. Liver and kidney functions were unaltered and cardiac morphology and function were not changed due to Stellariamedia tea lyophilizate. Conclusion.Althoughchickweeddoesnotseemtobetoxic,ourresultsdonotsupporttherationale of its use in the treatment of hypercholesterolemia. 1.Introduction e wide ecological tolerance and short-term vegetative reproduction period make chickweed (Stellaria media (L.) Vill., Caryophyllaceae) a common and widespread species. In cool, moist, and moderately shaded environment, huge territories are covered by this plant; thus, its presence in cultivated fields is a serious agricultural problem. Although chickweed has been consumed as salad and has been applied in folk medicine as tea [1, 2], its safety and efficacy have not been investigated in clinical trials [3]. Moderate interest has been shown toward this plant from the middle of the last century. Because of the potential biological benefits and its application in cosmetics, phytochemical and pharmacological studies have started to focus on species of Stellaria genus. ese studies are based mainly on invitro or in vivo animal experiments. According to these studies, several Stellaria species have noteworthy pharmacological activities (e.g., antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, and anti- allergic effects) [4]. Nowadays, Stellaria media, mostly consumed as tea, is gaining popularity as a remedy to lose weight [5] and it is widely used for its believed beneficial effects on blood lipid profile [6]. According to a popular Hungarian traditional healer, the infusion of 2.5g chickweed two times daily normalizes increased cholesterol level within some weeks [7]. Moreover, consumption of chickweed tea for cholesterol lowering is recommended by several websites dealing with health and lifestyle issues [8, 9]. Since there is no clinical evidence supporting this hypothesis and the designs of the Hindawi Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine Volume 2020, Article ID 5109328, 7 pages https://doi.org/10.1155/2020/5109328