Anti-hypercholesterolemic effect of Pistacia lentiscus fatty oil in egg yolk-fed rabbits:a comparative study with simvastatin

AIM:The current study was undertaken to assess anti-hyperlipidemic activity of Pistacia lentiscus fatty oil(PLFO) in rabbits following a hyperlipidemic diet.METHOD:Twenty healthy female(WNZ) rabbits were divided into four groups of five animals each:(a) normal control(NC group) receiving standard diet,(b) hyperlipidemic control(EY) group receiving standard diet and gavaged daily with egg yolk(10 mL),(c) hypolipidemic+PLFO(EY+PLFO) group receiving as the EY group and treated daily with PLFO(2 mL/kg BW,(d) hyperlipidemic+simvastatin(EY+SVS) group receiving as the EY group and treated once daily with 2.5 mg/kg BW of simvastatin.At the end of the six-week experimental period,the lipidemic profiles of the different groups were investigated.RESULTS:In the EY group,the egg yolk resulted in a significant increase of total cholesterol(TC),triglycerides(TG),HDL-C,LDL-C,and the LDL-C/HDL-C ratio.Both the EY+PLFO and EY+SVS groups,when compared to the EY group,showed a significant decrease of TC,TG;LDL-C,and the LDL-C/HDL-C ratio.Howsver,with respect to HDL-C the differences wsre not significant.The TGs wsre significantly lowsr(P0.001) in the simvastatin-treated group when compared to rabbits treated in the PLFO group.CONCLUSION:The study concludes that P.lentiscus fatty oil(PLFO) possesses anti-hyperlipidemic properties at least in reducing total cholesterol,LDL-cholesterol and triglycerides.