[Research advances on hypolipidemic effect of polysaccharides]

Hyperlipidemia is a systemic chronic metabolic disease caused by dyslipidemia in the body. It is an important risk factor of accelerating atherosclerosis, which will cause coronary heart disease, thrombus and other cardiovascular diseases, so it is a "invisible killer" for human health. Controlling and lowering blood lipids can reduce the risk of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. The current therapies for hyperlipidemia mainly include chemical synthetic medicines. However, long-term use of hypolipidemic drugs would cause various side effects, and the demand of effective and nontoxic drugs for hyperlipidemia patients is eager. Polysaccharide has attracted worldwide concerns due to its characteristics of good biocompatibility and less side effects. Polysaccharide is a kind of biological macromolecule which is widely found in plant cell walls, animal cell membranes and microorganism cell walls. A number of studies have shown that polysaccharides from natural materials have broad biological activities, such as anti-tumor, immunomodulatory, antioxidant, hypoglycemic, and hypolipidemic effects, with broad application prospect. This paper has reviewed and summarized the polysaccharides with hypolipidemic effect and their mechanisms which have been reported at home and abroad, hoping to provide certain reference for their development and application in lowering blood lipids.