Study of the Effects of Crataegus aronia fruit hydro-alcoholic extract and atorvastatin on hepatic tissue in hypercholesterolemic female rats

Introdution:. Increased plasma cholesterol causes hepatic damages through oxidative stress (OS) induction. There are many investigations about hawthorn effects on lipid reduction and atherosclerosis. The goal of current study was to determine the effects of hydro-alcoholic extract of Crataegus aronia fruit (HECA) and atorvastatin (AVS) on hypercholesterolemia-induced alterations in serum lipid profile and OS in hepatic tissue of female rats.
In this experimental study, 42 female rats were assigned into 7 groups including control, diet-induced hypercholesterolemia (DIH), DIH HECA (200 mg/kg/day; Per Oral (PO)), DIH HECA (400 mg/kg/day; PO), DIH AVS (10 mg/kg/day; PO), HECA (200 mg/kg/day; PO) and AVS (10 mg/kg/day; PO). After 30 days, blood and hepatic tissue samples were collected for biochemical and histological analyses. Data were analyzed by one-way ANOVA and Tukey's statistical tests using SPSS software.
Hypercholesterolemia resulted in significant increases in levels of serum lipids, hepatic enzymes and malondialdehyde in hepatic tissue as well as reductions in total antioxidant capacity and catalase level in liver compared to control group. Moreover, DIH led to significant increases in diameters of hepatocytes and their nuclei along with inflammation and cellular necrosis in hepatic tissue. Administration of HECA and AVS significantly restored above-mentioned parameters compared to DIH group.
These findings suggest that HECA can play a protective role against hepatic damages in hypercholesterolemic female rats According to the results of this study, the prevalence of obesity is not high in female students (3 %), but it is necessary to pay particular attention to information on obesity and girl's sports in universities, so that the prevalence of this disease is not increased