Objective: To investigate the mechanism of lipid-lowering effect of the Astragalus mongholicus and Angelica sinensis compound (A&A) on nephrotic hyperlipidemia in rats.
Methods: Rats with nephrotic syndrome from accelerated nephrotoxic serum nephritis were used. They were divided into two groups: A&A treatment group and nephrotic control group. Normal rats were used as a normal control group. Serum lipids, serum lipoprotein lipase (LPL) and lecithin-cholesterol acyltransferase (LCAT) were assayed biochemically and enzymatically. mRNAs of hepatic hydroxy-methyl glutaryl-CoA reductase (HMG-CoA-R) and low-density lipoprotein receptor (LDL-R) were assessed by Northern blot.
Results: In nephrotic control group hyperlipidemia was found. The activities of serum LPL and LCAT were low. Hepatic HMG-CoA-R mRNA increased temporarily at the early stage while LDL-R mRNA decreased gradually. In A&A treatment group, serum total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), low-density lipoproteins (LDL) and very low-density lipoproteins (VLDL) were significantly lower than those in nephrotic control group. There was no change in the amount of hepatic HMG-CoA-R mRNA, but hepatic LDL-R mRNA and activities of serum LPL and LCAT increased significantly.
Conclusions: A&A alleviates hyperlipidemia considerably in nephrotic rats. A&A improves disorders of lipid metabolism perhaps through up-regulating the expression of hepatic LDL-R gene and through increasing the activities of serum LPL and LCAT.