Lowering effects of aspirin eugenol ester on blood lipids in rats with high fat diet

BACKGROUND: Aspirin and eugenol were esterified to synthesize aspirin eugenol ester (AEE). As a pale yellow and odourless crystal, AEE reduced the gastrointestinal damage of aspirin and vulnerability of eugenol. The study was conducted to evaluate the preventive effects of AEE on blood lipids in rats with high fat diet (HFD). METHODS: Suspensions of AEE and simvastatin were prepared in 5% carboxymethyl cellulose sodium (CMC-Na). In order to observe the intervention effects, the drugs and HFD were administrated at the same time. Based on individual weekly body weight (BW), AEE was intragastrically administrated at the dosage of 18, 36 and 54 mg/kg. Simvastatin (10 mg/kg) and CMC-Na (20 mg/kg) were used as control drug. After 6 weeks of administration, the changes of BW and blood lipid indices including triglyceride (TG), low density lipoprotein (LDL), high density lipoprotein (HDL) and total cholesterol (TCH) were determined in the experiment. RESULTS: The rat blood lipids profile in model group was remarkably different after feeding 6-weeks HFD. TG, TCH and LDL indexes in model group were increased significantly compared with those in control group (p < 0.01). AEE at the dosage of 54 mg/kg significantly decreased levels of TG, TCH and LDL (p < 0.01), and slowed the rate of BW gain in comparison with model group (p < 0.05). Moreover, high dose AEE showed better effects than simvastatin on reducing TCH level and similar effects on TG, HDL and LDL. CONCLUSION: AEE could remarkably reduce levels of TG, TCH and LDL in rats with high fat diet, and slow the rate of body weight gain. It was conducted that AEE was a potential candidate on reducing blood lipids level. The mechanism of action of AEE should be investigated in further studies.