Effect of an indigenous herbal compound preparation ‘Trikatu’ on the lipid profiles of atherogenic diet and standard diet fed Rattus norvegicus

Abstract

Combating heart disease is one of the challenging problems of biomedical science today. Towards this goal an indigenous preparation 'Trikatu' (a herbal combination containing Piper longum (fruit), Piper nigrum (fruit) and Zingiber officinale (rhizome) dry powder) was fed to normal and cholesterol fed male Rattus norvegicus to ascertain its efficacy as a hypolipidaemic agent. Its effects on body weight, blood and tissue (aortic, cardiac and hepatic) lipids--total, free and esterified cholesterol, low density lipoprotein(LDL) and high density lipoprotein(HDL) cholesterol, triglycerides and phospholipids--and the atherogenic index were measured. It was found that 'Trikatu' by virtue of its ability to reduce triglycerides and LDL cholesterol and to increase HDL cholesterol can reduce the risk of hyperlipidaemia and atherosclerosis. Hence 'Trikatu' can be used as a potent hypolipidaemic agent and it can reduce the atherosclerosis associated with a high fat diet.

Vasorelaxant and anti-platelet aggregation effects of aqueous Ocimum basilicum extract

“…The present work shows that the body weights of all the three dietary grouped rats increased linearly from the beginning to the end of the experiment indicating that the diets given were adequate. In addition, the hyperlipidemic group showed a significantly higher body weight than rats kept on standard diet (275.6 ± 7.9 versus 264.7 ± 3.8, p < 0.05), this result is in agreement with previous reports (Sivakumar and Sivakumar, 2004). However, the administration of Ocimum basilicum extract together with the HCD tend to suppress the increased body weight observed (251.3 ± 9.2 versus 275.6 ± 7.9, p = 0.073).…”

Studies on two polyherbal formulations (ZPTO and ZTO) for comparison of their antidyslipidemic, antihypertensive and endothelial modulating activities

“…Moreover, the selected ingredients of ZPTO and ZTO are known for their synergistic therapeutic action when used with other medicinal herbs in combinations such as, Trifla containing T. belerica as one of its component, which is a popular herbal formulation for its effectiveness in hypercholesterolemia [4] compared to the individual hypolipidemic potential of T. belerica [5]. Similarly, Trikatu , a polyherbal formulation corrects deranged lipid in a better way [6] compared to the individual effectiveness of Z. officinalis [8,9] and P. nigrum [10,11]. The present study also proves better efficacy and safety of O. mascula in the form of mixture compared to its individual actions [16].…”

“…It was also interesting to study the polyherbal formulations as some of the ingredients of these selected formulations, T. belerica [4,5]; Z. officianlis and P. nigrum [6] have been reported to have synergistic activities when used in combination with other medicinal herbs. Based on a cultural belief in south Asia, the compound preparations are considered more effective and safer than the single plant [7], which was supported by recent studies on polyherbal formulations including trifala, in which, T. belerica (also part of current study) is the essential ingredient [4].…”

Piper nigrum and Piperine: An Update

“…P. nigrum is used in the treatment of pain relief, chills, rheumatism, flu, muscular aches, colds, exhaustion, fevers, as a nerve tonic, to increase circulation of blood, increase the flow of saliva, stimulate appetite, and to encourage peristalsis (Pruthi, ; Ravindran, ; Sharon, ). Both black pepper and long pepper ( P. longum ), together with ginger, are ingredients of ‘Trikatu’, an important ancient Ayurvedic formula still used for digestive purposes (Ravindran, ; Jiang, ; Sivakumar and Sivakumar, ).…”