Experimental Study of Antiatherosclerosis Effects with Hederagenin in Rats.

The research tries to establish Wistar rat's model of atherosclerosis for evaluating the antiatherosclerotic effect of hederagenin and exploring its antiatherosclerosis-related mechanisms. The statistical data have shown that hederagenin exhibits multiple pharmacological activities in the treatment of hyperlipidemia, antiplatelet aggregation, liver protection, and anti-inflammation, indicating that hederagenin may exert a protective effect on vascular walls by improving lipid metabolism disorders and lipid deposition. The results show that hederagenin can correct the imbalance of endothelial function by inhibiting the release of large amounts of iNOS and increasing eNOS contents and inhibits the IKKβ/NF-κB signaling pathway to reduce the release of IL-6, IFN-γ, TNF-α, and other inflammatory factors. The experimental results indicated that hederagenin can inhibit or ameliorate the pathological changes associated with AS, displaying an excellent preventive function against AS.