Impact of Pulicaria incisa, Diplotaxis harra and Avicennia marina as hypocholesterolemic agent

An experiment was carried out by using 30 male albino rats which were divided into five groups after adaptation period (7 days). The negative control (6 rats) was fed on basal diet, while positive control was fed on a hypercholesterolemic diet. The treated groups were fed on hypercholesterolemic diets supplemented with 8\% of each of Pulicaria incisa, Diplotaxis harra and Avicennia marina, respectively. The duration period of the experiment was nine weeks. At the end of the experiment the body weight gain, liver and kidneys functions as well as lipid pattern were determined. It was found that the addition of P incisa gave the highest significant decrease in total lipid, total cholesterol, and triglycerides. Other plants also significantly decrease all these parameters but in different degrees. HDL-cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, VLDL-cholesterol, chylomicronaemia, TG/ LDL-cholesterol ratio, HDL-cholesterol/pooled lipoprotein, atherogenic index and ratio of HDL-cholesterol/LDL-cholesterol were also determined in rat's serum. Most organs functions were improved and attained nearly to the negative control group as Serum glutamate pyruvate transaminase (SGPT), serum glutamate oxaloacetate transaminase (SGOT), SGOT/ SGPT ratio, serum albumin, serum total protein, serum globulin, serum total bilirubin, albumin/globulin ratio, serum uric acid and blood urea. In addition, serum glucose was nearly returned the negative control group. The data obtained is of importance in utilizing these medical plants as a new non-conventional supply for the pharmaceutical industries and for edible purposes.