Research Article Lipid Lowering Effect of Punica granatum L. Peel in High Lipid Diet Fed Male Rats Alireza Sadeghipour, 1 Maryam Eidi, 2 Ali Ilchizadeh Kavgani, 3 Reza Ghahramani, 4 Saleh Shahabzadeh, 3 and Ali Anissian 5 1 Department of Pathology, Rasoul Akram Medical Complex, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran 2 Department of Biology, College of Biological Sciences, Varamin-Pishva Branch, Islamic Azad University, Varamin, Iran 3 Young Researchers and Elite Club, Islamic Azad University, Tehran Medical Sciences Branch, Tehran, Iran 4 Young Researchers and Elite Club, Islamic Azad University, Varamin-Pishva Branch, Varamin, Iran 5 Department of Veterinary, College of Agriculture, Abhar Branch, Islamic Azad University, Abhar, Iran Correspondence should be addressed to Maryam Eidi; maryameidi@gmail.com Received 19 April 2014; Revised 30 July 2014; Accepted 15 August 2014; Published 10 September 2014 Academic Editor: Ravirajsinh Jadeja Copyright © 2014 Alireza Sadeghipour et al. Tis 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. Many herbal medicines have been recommended for the treatment of dyslipidemia. Te antilipidemic efect of hydroethanolic extract of pomegranate peel (Punica granatum L.) was investigated in high lipid diet fed male rats. Intraperitoneally administration of pomegranate peel extract (50, 100, 200, and 300 mg/kg body weight) for 23 days on the levels of serum cholesterol, triglycerides, LDL, HDL, alkaline phosphatase (AP), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) in high lipid diet fed male rats was evaluated. Treatment of pomegranate extract decreased body weight in treated rats, signifcantly. Administration of the plant extract signifcantly decreased serum total cholesterol, triglycerides, LDL-C, alkaline phosphatise, AST, and ALT levels, whereas it increased serum HDL-C in high lipid diet fed rats in comparison to saline control group. Also, histopathological study showed that treatment of pomegranate peel extract attenuates liver damage in high lipid diet fed rats in comparison to saline group. It is concluded that the plant should be considered as an excellent candidate for future studies on dyslipidemia. 1. Introduction Dyslipidemia is generally characterized by elevated levels of total cholesterol, triglycerides, low density lipoprotein cholesterol, and decreased levels of high density lipoprotein cholesterol [1]. Dyslipidemia as an independent preventable risk factor of coronary heart disease has been shown to increase the risk of cardiovascular mortality [2–7]. Terefore, the study on the various indicators and risk factors of dyslipi- demia appears to be signifcant in future health outcomes. Punica granatum Linn. (Punicaceae) is a shrub or small tree and considered to be a native of Iran and Afghanistan. It is also found growing wild in the warm valleys and outer hills of the Himalayas [8]. Te pomegranate fruit consists of the peel, seeds, and the arils. Te peel makes up about 50% of the fruit, whereas the arils and seeds make up 40% and 10%, respectively. Te peel is rich in many compounds such as phenolics, favonoids, ellagitannins and proanthocyanidin compounds, complex polysaccharides, and many minerals including potassium, nitrogen, calcium, magnesium, phos- phorus, and sodium [9]. Te diferent parts of pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) have been known as a reservoir of bioactive compounds with potential biological activities. Pomegranate decreased the dyslipidemia of obesity and cardiovascular risk factors [10]. Antiparasitic, antimicrobial, and antioxidant activities of pomegranate leaves extracts were reported [11–13]. Several papers were reported on the ability of pomegranate leaves extracts to fght obesity [14], cancer, and other human diseases [15]. It is reported that 6-week treatment with pomegranate fower extract ameliorated fatty liver, refected by diminish- ment of relative and total hepatic triglyceride contents and Hindawi Publishing Corporation Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine Volume 2014, Article ID 432650, 5 pages http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2014/432650