Objective: The objective of the study was to evaluate the hypolipidemic activity of fruit rind extracts of Garcinia gummi-gutta in diet-induced hyperlipidemic rats. Methods: Hydroalcoholic extract of fruit rinds of G. gummi-gutta was prepared using Soxhlet apparatus. 30 Wistar albino rats were divided into five groups (n=6). Except for Group 1, all the other groups were treated with hyperlipidemic diet (HLD) for 4 weeks. After induction, the Groups 3 and 4 were treated with the extracts at 100 mg/kg and 200 mg/kg doses, respectively, whereas Group 5 received the standard drug atorvastatin at 10 mg/kg for the next 4 weeks. Lipid profile was estimated at the end of each week. At the end of the study, rats were sacrificed and the liver and heart were analyzed for histopathological changes. Data expressed as mean±standard error of the mean. Statistical analysis was done using one-way ANOVA followed by post hoc Tukey test. p<0.05 considered statistically significant. Results: The serum levels of total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), very low-density lipoprotein (VLDL), and LDL were significantly increased and the levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) were significantly decreased when compared to normal control. The groups which received G. gummi-gutta rind extract at 100 mg/kg and 200 mg/kg showed a significant decrease in the mean cholesterol, TG, LDL, VLDL levels, and an increase in HDL levels when compared to the HLD group. The group which received the extract at higher dose (REGG200) was found better than the lower dose (REGG 100). REGG 200 showed significant improvement in increasing the HDL levels than all the test groups. The standard drug atorvastatin was found better than REGG100 but there was no significant difference between high doses of the extract and atorvastatin. Conclusion: The fruit rinds extract of G. gummi-gutta was able to decrease the elevated serum lipids (TC, TG, LDL, and VLDL) and consequently increase the HDL levels in a dose-dependent manner.

Background: The current study was done to evaluate the effect of hydro alcoholic extract of Salacia oblonga on aluminum induced toxicity in brain cortex and blood in Wistar albino rats.Methods: The experimental animals were divided into four groups, each group comprising of six animals for 36 days of experimental duration. We investigated Na+/K+, Mg2+, Ca2+ ATPases enzyme activity in brain cortex and hematological changes if any, upon administration of aluminum chloride (Alcl3) (300 mg/kg b.w), hydro alcoholic extract  of Salacia oblonga (67 mg/kg b.w) and Alcl3+ Salacia oblanga with control (distilled water).Results: In brain cortex, Salacia caused an increased in activity of ATPases. Combined administration of Salacia suppressed the influence of aluminum on the ATPases in the brain cortex (p<0.05). Both aluminum as well as Salacia did not cause any alteration in the hemoglobin content of blood in Wistar albino rats. The erythrocytes count was also not altered by treatment with either aluminum or Salacia. Combined treatment with Salacia suppressed the influence of aluminum with reference to neutrophil count and significant increases in monocyte as well as lymphocyte count were seen. Thus, repeated administration of aluminum causes a decrease in neutrophil and increase in lymphocyte count.Conclusions: All the ATPases in brain cortex were found to be affected by aluminum administration and Salacia is found to counteract the ATPase effect to a particular extent implying the presence of an active principle that can counteract the aluminium toxicity indicating its possible usefulness in aluminum toxicity.