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Panax notoginseng (Burk.) effects on fibrinogen and lipid plasma level in rats fed on a high‐fat diet

Several studies have shown that notoginsenoides improve diastolic function in hypertensive subjects, induce the fibrinolytic system in in vitro models and act as antiproliferative agents on vessel leiomyocytes. Our aim was to evaluate their effect on fibrinogen and lipid plasma levels compared with a well‐known HMGCoA reductase inhibitor. Seventy Wistar male adult rats on a fat‐enriched diet were treated orally with P. notoginseng pulverized root (43 mg/kg/day or 86 mg/kg/day; 20 animals per group), fluvastatin (3 mg/kg/day; 20 animals) or physiological saline (5 mL/kg/day; 10 animals). The ten rats on a normocaloric diet were also treated with 5 mL/kg/day of physiological saline. After a 28‐day treatment, the rats were killed and their blood analysed with standard procedures. Treatment with 43 mg/kg/day of P. notoginseng or 3 mg/kg/day of fluvastatin showed similar activity in decreasing total cholesterol (−23.70%, −19.29%, respectively) and triglycerides (−21.59%, −18.55%). The most evident effect of P. notoginseng was the reduction of fibrinogenaemia in treated rats compared with the control values (−38.10%; p < 0.001), no dose‐relationship being shown in this effect. Moreover, no significant variation in HDL cholesterol and glucose levels was observed nor did relevant behavioural changes occur in association with the root intake. Besides a moderate, non dose‐related decrease in the plasma lipid levels, P. notoginseng appeared to induce a significant reduction in the rat fibrinogenaemia. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.