Hypolipidemic and Hepatoprotective Effects of Polysaccharides Extracted from Liriope spicata Var. Prolifera in C57BL/6J Mice with High-Fat Diet-Induced Hyperlipidemia

In this study, C57BL/6J mice with high-fat diet- (HFD-) induced hyperlipidemia were treated with total Liriope spicata var. prolifera polysaccharides (TLSP: 200, 400, and 800 mg/kg body weight), simvastatin (3 mg/kg body weight), or saline for 8 weeks, respectively. The results showed that TLSP had strong lipid-lowering and hepatoprotective effects on C57BL/6J mice with HFD-induced hyperlipidemia. TLSP administration significantly reduced serum total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels and downregulated the expressions of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR)γ and fatty acid synthase (FAS) in the adipose and liver tissues of the mice. TLSP exerted hypolipidemic and hepatoprotective effects by activating lipid/bile acid metabolism via the FXH-SHP/CYP7A1 and SEBP-1c/FAC/ACC signaling pathways. Thus, TLPS is a promising natural polymer with hepatoprotective and hypolipidemic properties.