Hypocholesterolemic effects of Balangu (Lallemantia royleana) seeds in the rabbits fed on a cholesterol-containing diet

OBJECTIVES Lallemantia royleana (Benth. in Wall.) Benth. (Lamiaceae) is a medicinal plant used in Iranian traditional and folklore medicine in the treatment of various nervous, hepatic, and renal diseases. In the present study, whole seeds of the herb were prepared and evaluated for hypolipidemic activities using an animal model. MATERIALS AND METHODS Animals were fed normal diets or diets supplemented with cholesterol (0.5%) for 12 weeks to evoke hypercholesterolemia. Moreover, hypercholesterolemic animals were treated with different doses of whole seeds of Balangu (0, 5, 10, and 20%) for 12 weeks. RESULTS Results showed that the serum total cholesterol and triglyceride decreased in all groups treated with Balangu seeds p<0.05. Changes in the distribution of cholesterol in low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) were found. LDL-C and HDL-C decreased significantly in all of the groups treated with whole seeds of the herb with respect to hypercholesterolemic group p<0.05. CONCLUSION Our results showed that L. royleana seeds decreased the serum cholesterol and triglyceride levels in hypercholesterolemic animals but led to the increase of atherogenic index in all treated groups.