Effect of hydro-alcoholic extract of Pistacia Vera L. on the severity of hypercholesterolemia lesions in rabbit aorta

Atherosclerosis is the leading cause of cardiovascular diseases. The aim of this study is evaluating the effect of Pistacia Vera L. extract of Pistacia Vera L. on the severity of hypercholesterolemia lesions in rabbit aorta. For this purpose, 25 adult female rabbits passed adaptation period and they have been divided in to 5 treatment groups of 5 rabbits each, included: scheme, positive control 1, positive control 2, treatment and negative control. Scheme group was fed with normal diet. Positive control 1 and 2 were fed by corn oil and cholesterol as the same amount of treatment respectively. Treatment was fed with Pistachios extract with the amount of 1000 mg/kg. Furthermore, corn oil with the amount of 1 ml/kg with adding 1 percent cholesterol of total consuming food weight were administrated to treatment by gavage. Negative control was prescribed with 1000 mg/kg oral administration of Pistachios. In this study, no change in aortic tissue was observed in the scheme group. In the positive control 1 (receiving corn oil), there was no precipitation. The treatment compared with negative control (receiving cholesterol) indicated less amount of fatty deposits in aortic tissue. In the negative control (receiving pistachio extract) There was also no precipitation. This study indicates that pistachio extract can help in reduction of atherosclerosis side effects and reducing fat deposits in aortic tissue layer intima and media in hypercholesterolemic rabbits.