Potential herbal preparations for the prevention of the metabolic syndrome in rats

Metabolic syndrome (MetS) describes a cluster of different metabolic risk factors including obesity, hyperglycaemia, insulin resistance and dyslipidemia. Nutritional supplementation with botanicals that effectively address pathogenic mechanisms, combined with the acceptance and widespread use of botanical supplements by the general public, represents an attractive, novel, and potentially effective approach to the problem. It was the objective of this study to investigate the preventive effects of aqueous extracts Ficus carica L. (FC), Artemisia dracunculus L. (AD), and Hibiscus sabdariffa L. (HS) on risk factors of MetS in rats since these plants have traditionally been used for the treatment of obesity or hyperglycemia. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were fed with a low fat diet, high fat diet (HFD) or HFD + oral treatment of either 50mg/kg or 100mg/kg of each extract or 30mg/kg pioglitazone for six weeks. A range of parameters was evaluated including body weight development, plasma levels of total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), low-density-lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), adiponectin, leptin, glucose, insulin, atherogenic index (AI) and the coronary risk index (CRI). It was demonstrated that the aqueous extracts of FC, AD and HS have potential positive effects on the lipid profile, most effectively FC and HS.