title: Cardiovascular protective effects of Casearia sylvestris Swartz in Swiss and C57BL/6 LDLr-null mice undergoing high fat diet.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Although Casearia sylvestris Swartz is used in Brazilian folk medicine to treat obesity, no study has been conducted to evaluate the effects of this species in an experimental model of dyslipidemia and atherosclerosis. So, the aim of this study was to evaluate possible hypolipemiant and antiatherogenic activity of the methanolic extract obtained from Casearia sylvestris (MECS) using Swiss and C57BL/6 LDLr-null mice undergoing high fat diet (HFD).
  
  
  METHODS
  Dyslipidemia and atherogenesis were induced by the administration of commercial HFD for 4 weeks. The MECS was administered orally at doses of 250 and 500mg/kg, once a day, for two weeks, starting from the 2nd week of HFD. The gain in body weight and systolic blood pressure (SBP) were measured weekly over the four week study. At the end of the experiments the levels of triglyceride (TG), total cholesterol (TC), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and very low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (VLDL-C) were measured by colorimetric method. Aldosterone, vasopressin and angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) activity were also evaluated in collected serum. The renal function, atherogenic index serum (AIS) and in vitro antiplatelet activity were investigated. Additionally, histopathological analyzes were performed to determine the intima-media thickness (IMT) and intima media ratio (IMR) in aorta samples.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The HFD induced dyslipidemia and major structural changes in the aortic wall, including raising of the systolic blood pressure in LDLr-null mice. In addition, we observed an increase in lipid peroxidation accompanied by a reduction of serum nitrite. The treatment with MECS was able to prevent the increase of SBP, TC, LDL-C, VLDL-C and triglycerides levels and increase HDL-C in Swiss and LDLr-null mice. These effects were accompanied by a significant reduction in oxidative stress. Moreover, AIS, IMT and IMR were significantly reduced in MECS-treated mice, and the extract was able to reduce platelet aggregation in vitro.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study demonstrated that MECS reduces the serum lipids and oxidative stress when orally administered to Swiss and LDLr-null mice. In addition, it was able to prevent arterial thickening induced by HFD and to inhibit platelet aggregation in vitro.
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Médicas e da Saúde, Universidade Paranaense, PR, Brazil.
authors.forename: Nayara Mercedes
authors.initials: NM
authors.lastname: Frediani Brant
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Médicas e da Saúde, Universidade Paranaense, PR, Brazil.
authors.forename: Francielly
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Mourão Gasparotto
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Médicas e da Saúde, Universidade Paranaense, PR, Brazil.
authors.forename: Valdinei
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: de Oliveira Araújo
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Médicas e da Saúde, Universidade Paranaense, PR, Brazil.
authors.forename: Jhonatan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Christian Maraschin
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Ciências Exatas, Agrárias, Tecnológicas e Geociências, Universidade Paranaense, Umuarama, PR, Brazil.
authors.forename: Rita de Cassia
authors.initials: Rde C
authors.lastname: Lima Ribeiro
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Médicas e da Saúde, Universidade Paranaense, PR, Brazil.
authors.forename: Emerson Luiz
authors.initials: EL
authors.lastname: Botelho Lourenço
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Médicas e da Saúde, Universidade Paranaense, PR, Brazil.
authors.forename: Euclides Lara
authors.initials: EL
authors.lastname: Cardozo Junior
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Médicas e da Saúde, Universidade Paranaense, PR, Brazil; Laboratório de Farmacologia Cardiovascular, Faculdade de Ciências da Saúde, Universidade Federal da Grande Dourados, Dourados, MS, Brasil. Electronic address: arquimedesgasparotto@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Arquimedes
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gasparotto Junior
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001013:Aorta, Thoracic / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology; D050197:Atherosclerosis / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000187:drug effects; D037821:Casearia / Q000737:chemistry*; D059305:Diet, High-Fat / Q000009:adverse effects*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D050171:Dyslipidemias / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology; D020834:Ethnopharmacology; D000960:Hypolipidemic Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D007677:Kidney Function Tests; D015227:Lipid Peroxidation / Q000187:drug effects; D008055:Lipids / Q000097:blood; D008297:Male; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D018345:Mice, Knockout; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000627:therapeutic use; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000737:chemistry; D010974:Platelet Aggregation / Q000187:drug effects; D011973:Receptors, LDL / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D000960:Hypolipidemic Agents; D008055:Lipids; D010936:Plant Extracts; D011973:Receptors, LDL
keywords: Antiatherogenic; Casearia sylvestris; Flacourtiaceae; Hypolipemiant