The Effect of Pine (pinus densiflora) Needle Extracts on Blood Flow and Serum Lipid Improvement

Abstract

To investigate the effects of pine (pinus densiflora) needle extracts on blood flow and serum lipid improvement were assessed in vivo. 8 week-old Sprague Dawley strain rats were divided into four groups of seven rats each; CON, 0.5% CHOL, HOT water and Sub-supercritical group. Serum total cholesterol and triglyceride contents were lower in the CON group than the 0.5% CHOL group. Three weeks of feeding hot water and sub-supercritical extract resulted in a decrease in serum triglyceride and total cholesterol level. The level of HDL-cholesterol in the 0.5% CHOL group was significantly (p<0.05) reduced compared to the CON group, but it had a tendency to increase with pine needle extract supplementation. Blood passage time of the pine needle extracts supplemented group was higher than the 0.5% CHOL group. Microscopic observation showed that whole blood passed smoothly through the micro channels in pine needle extracts supplemented groups. The platelet aggregation ability of the groups treated with pine needle extracts was less than that of the 0.5% CHOL group. All these results suggest that pine needle extracts might improve blood homeostasis mediated via antiplatelet activities.