Gastrodia elata Ameliorates High-Fructose Diet-Induced Lipid Metabolism and Endothelial Dysfunction

Overconsumption of fructose results in dyslipidemia, hypertension, and impaired glucose tolerance, which have documented correlation with metabolic syndrome. Gastrodia elata, a widely used traditional herbal medicine, was reported with anti-inflammatory and antidiabetes activities. Thus, this study examined whether ethanol extract of Gastrodia elata Blume (EGB) attenuate lipid metabolism and endothelial dysfunction in a high-fructose (HF) diet animal model. Rats were fed the 65% HF diet with/without EGB 100 mg/kg/day for 8 weeks. Treatment with EGB significantly suppressed the increments of epididymal fat weight, blood pressure, plasma triglyceride, total cholesterol levels, and oral glucose tolerance, respectively. In addition, EGB markedly prevented increase of adipocyte size and hepatic accumulation of triglycerides. EGB ameliorated endothelial dysfunction by downregulation of endothelin-1 (ET-1) and adhesion molecules in the aorta. Moreover, EGB significantly recovered the impairment of vasorelaxation to acetylcholine and levels of endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) expression and induced markedly upregulation of phosphorylation AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK)α in the liver, muscle, and fat. These results indicate that EGB ameliorates dyslipidemia, hypertension, and insulin resistance as well as impaired vascular endothelial function in HF diet rats. Taken together, EGB may be a beneficial therapeutic approach for metabolic syndrome.