Ya That Somdun improves hepatic steatosis in hyperlipidemic rats

Ya That Somdun (YTS) is a traditional Thai medicine composed of six herbs used as a strengthening tonic. Some of the herbs constituting YTS have antihyperlipidemic and anti-obesity activities. The objective of this study was to elucidate the antihyperlipidemic properties of YTS extract in rats with cholesterol suspension-induced hyperlipidemia. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were subdivided into four groups: normal control (NC), hyperlipidemic control (HC), and those who were administered 100 (YTS100) and 200 mg (YTS200) of YTS/kg body weight (BW). Hyperlipidemic rats were orally administered YTS extract for four consecutive weeks from the fifth week of cholesterol suspension. Serum lipid profiles, body weights, liver and renal functional markers, gene expression involved in lipid metabolism, and liver histopathology were examined. The HC and YTS groups showed a significant increase in body weights compared with the NC group. The YTS100 and YTS200 groups showed no significant difference in serum triglyceride, total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) levels compared with the NC and HC groups. YTS treatment (100 mg/kg BW) downregulated sterol regulatory element binding protein 1c (SREBP-1c) mRNA expression and alleviated hepatic steatosis. In conclusion, the YTS extract reduced hepatic lipid accumulation in hyperlipidemic rats by reducing SREBP-1c expression levels.