摘要：BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES
Curcuma zedoaria R. (
Zingiberaceae) has been used to treat headache, fever, and hypertension-related symptoms in Asian countries, including Korea, China, and Japan. We investigated whether dietary intake of a
C. zedoaria extract (CzE) affected atherosclerosis
in vivo.
MATERIALS/METHODS
Apolipoprotein E-deficient (ApoE
−/−) mice (n = 32) were fed a normal diet (ND), a high-cholesterol diet (HCD), an HCD containing CzE (100 mg/kg/day), or an HCD containing simvastatin (10 mg/kg/day) for 12 weeks. The anti-atherosclerotic effects were evaluated by observing changes in fatty streak lesions, immunohistochemical analysis,
ex vivo fluorescence imaging, lipid profiles, and western blot analysis.
RESULTS
The CzE-fed group showed a 41.6% reduction of atherosclerosis. Furthermore, CzE significantly reduced the levels of serum triglyceride, high-density lipoprotein, the chemokine (C-X3-C-motif) ligand 1, the adhesion molecules vascular cell adhesion molecule-1, intracellular adhesion molecule-1, and E-selectin; down-regulation of tumor necrosis factor-α, interleukin-6, high mobility group box-1, and cathepsin levels in the aortic sinuses and aortas of ApoE
−/− mice were also observed.
CONCLUSIONS
The results suggest that the inclusion of a water extract of
C. zedoaria in a HCD is closely correlated with reducing the risk of vascular inflammatory diseases in an ApoE mouse model.
