Hypertriglyceridemia is a condition characterized by high
triglyceride levels and is a major risk factor for the development of
cardiovascular diseases. The present study was designed to investigate the inhibitory effect of roasted Nelumbinis folium (RN), which is a medicinal substance produced by heating lotus leaves, on lipid metabolism in high fat/
cholesterol (HFC) diet-induced
hypertriglyceridemia. Except for those in the control group, Sprague-Dawley rats were fed an HFC diet for four weeks to induce
hypertriglyceridemia. During the next nine weeks, the control, regular diet; HFC, HFC diet, FLU,
fluvastatin (3 mg/kg/day); RNL, RN (100 mg/kg/day); RNH, RN (200 mg/kg/day) were orally administered together with the diet, and the experiments were conducted for a total of 13 weeks. The weight of the epididymal adipose tissue, liver, and heart of rats in the HFC diet group significantly increased compared to those in the control group but improved in the RN-treated group. It was also confirmed that vascular function, which is damaged by an HFC diet, was improved after RN treatment. The levels of
insulin,
glucose,
triglycerides, total
cholesterol, and
low-density lipoprotein increased in the HFC diet group compared to those in the control group, while the administration of RN attenuated these parameters. In addition, the administration of RN significantly reduced the gene expression of both LXR and SREBP-1, which indicated the inhibitory effect of the biosynthesis of
triglycerides caused by RN. The results indicated that RN administration resulted in an improvement in the overall lipid metabolism and a decrease in the concentration of
triglycerides in the HFC diet-induced rat model of
hypertriglyceridemia. Therefore, our findings suggest that the RN can be a candidate material to provide a new direction for treating
hypertriglyceridemia.