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. 2012 Jun 15:11:274-83.
eCollection 2012.

Effect of methanolic extract of Piper sarmentosum leaves on neointimal foam cell infiltration in rabbits fed with high cholesterol diet

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Effect of methanolic extract of Piper sarmentosum leaves on neointimal foam cell infiltration in rabbits fed with high cholesterol diet

Adel A Amran et al. EXCLI J. .

Abstract

Previous research has shown the beneficial effects of aqueous extract of Piper sarmentosum (P.s) on atherosclerosis. The first stage in atherosclerosis is the formation of foam cell. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of the methanol extract of P.s on fatty streaks by calculating neointimal foam cell infiltration in rabbits fed with high cholesterol diet. Thirty six male New Zealand white rabbits were divided equally into six groups: (i) C: control group fed normal rabbit chow; (ii) CH: cholesterol diet (1 % cholesterol); (iii) PM1: 1 % cholesterol with methanol extract of P.s (62.5 mg/kg); (iv) PM2: 1 % cholesterol with methanol extract of P.s (125 mg/kg); (v) PM3: 1 % cholesterol with methanol extract of P.s (250 mg/kg); (vi) SMV group fed 1 % cholesterol supplemented with Simvistatin drug (1.2 mg/kg). All animals were treated for 10 weeks. At the end of the treatment, the rabbits were fasted and sacrificed and the aortic tissues were collected for histological studies to measure the area of the neointimal foam cell infiltration using software. The thickening of intima ratio of atherosclerosis and morphological changes by scanning electron microscope were measured. The results showed that the atherosclerotic group had significantly bigger area of fatty streak compared to the control group. The area of fatty streak in the abdominal aorta was significantly reduced in the treatment groups which were similar with the SMV group. Similarly, there was a reduction in the number of foam cell in the treatment groups compared to the atherosclerotic group as seen under scanning microscope. In conclusion, histological study demonstrated that the methanol extract of the P.s could reduce the neointimal foam cell infiltration in the lumen of the aorta and the atherosclerotic lesion.

Keywords: Piper sarmentosum; Simvistatin; aorta; atherosclerosis; extract; histology.

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Figures

Table 1
Table 1. Effect of Piper sarmentosum on fatty streak in groups fed with 1 % cholesterol diet
Figure 1
Figure 1. Calculation of the neointimal foam-cell infiltration area using Video Test T-Morphology 5.1 software with camera; black circle indicates the internal elastic lamina was traced from the images and its area calculated. Yellow circle indicates the area of the aortic luminal surface and lumen area calculated. The area of the neointimal foam-cell was calculated by subtracting the area of the lumen from the internal elastic lamina. x25
Figure 2
Figure 2. Scanning electron micrograph from a lesion in the luminal abdominal aorta (a) control group showed no lipid or foam cell appearance, (b) hypercholestrolaemic rabbit, there is marked irregularity of the surface caused by accumulation of numerous foam cells covering all the intimal endothelium surface. Adhering leukocytes have tail-like protrusions and appear to be spreading over or migrating to the aortic intima and (c) treatment with P.s, there is less accumulation of adherent leukocytes on the surface (Bar = 20 µm).

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