Antihyperlipidemic Potential of Polyphenol and Glycoside Rich Nerium oleander Flower against Triton WR-1339-Induced Hyperlipidemia in Experimental Sprague Dawley Rats

Abstract

Nerium oleander Linn. (NO), an evergreen cardiac glycoside-rich shrub is used as folklore medicine in China to treat many diseases. It exhibits a wide spectrum of bioactivities but there were not much scienti�c reports on the bioactivity of N. oleander �owers. In the present study, we have evaluated the toxicity pro�le of the 50% hydroethanolic extracts of Nerium oleander �owers (ENO) using in vitro brine shrimp lethality assay and MTT cytotoxicity assay and in vivo acute toxicity test as per the OECD guidelines. e antihyperlipidemic activity of the ENO was also studied using Triton WR-1339-induced hyperlipemic rats and compared with standard Atorvastatin. In vitro brine shrimp, MTT cytotoxic assay, and in vivo acute toxicity assays showed a wide safety margin which has been evidenced through its lethal concentration (LC 50 : 795.46 g/mL) and growth inhibition (GI 50 : 993.60 g/ml) values. Plasma lipids and lipoproteins were signi�cantly elevated by the intraperitoneal in�ection of Triton WR 1339 in hyperlipidemic rats at 6th and 24th hour. ENO pretreatment showed a signi�cant ameliorative action on elevated lipids and lipoproteins in a dosedependent manner when compared to standard. Altogether, the results prove that Nerium oleander �owers are not toxic at the tested doses and exhibit antilipimic activity