Authors : Nawal S. Hasan, Zulkhairi H. Amom, A.I. Nor, Daryl J. Arapoc and Azrina Azlan
Abstract: The influence of dates extract on lipid profile and atherosclerotic lesion formation in hypercholesterolemic induced rabbit were investigated. About 49 male New Zealand White (NZW) rabbits were divided into 7 groups. The Normal Control (NC) group, Hypercholesterolemic Control (HC) group was given 0.5% cholesterol diet, Simvastatin Control (SC) group was given 0.5% cholesterol diet+5 mg kg-1 simvastatin. Treatment groups T125, T250, T500 and T1000 were given 0.5% cholesterol diet with supplementation of 125, 250, 500 and 1000 mg kg-1 of dates extract, respectively for 10 weeks. Blood was collected from ear vein for plasma analysis and the whole aortas were excised for microscopy study. The supplementation of 125 and 250 mg kg-1 of date extract reduced plasma Total Cholesterol (TC), Low-Density Lipoprotein (LDL) and Triglycerides (TG) levels concomitantly groups supplemented with date extract (T125, T250, T500 and T1000) were significantly higher (p<0.05) in High Density Lipoprotein (HDL) in diet induced hypercholesterolemic rabbit. The Atherogenic Index (AI) and sdLDL values were found to be lower in date extract treated groups compared to HC (p<0.05). The plasma total antioxidant activity in groups, treated with date extract (T125, T250, T500 and T1000) were significantly higher (p<0.05) in compared to HC group at 10th week. No foam cell formation was visible in the aorta of rabbits in NC and T250 groups. However, there was visible foam cell formation in the aorta of groups HC, SC, T125, T500 and T1000. Results showed that plasma lipid concentration was significantly reduced at the end of experiment in groups supplemented with date extract.
Nawal S. Hasan, Zulkhairi H. Amom, A.I. Nor, Daryl J. Arapoc and Azrina Azlan, 2010. The Role of Dates (Phoenix dactylifera) Aqueous Extract in Improving the Plasma Lipid Profiles of Diet-Induced Hypercholesterolemic Rabbits. Research Journal of Biological Sciences, 5: 632-637.