Objective: To investigate the mechanism of Astragalus Angelica Mixture (AAM) effect of regulating lipid metabolism disturbance in nephrotic rats.
Methods: To examine the effects of AAM on serum albumin, lipid levels, and activities of lipoprotein lipase (LPL) and lecithin-cholesterol acyltransferase (LCAT), which are key enzymes for catabolism of lipid, in immune-induced nephrotic hyperlipidemia rats and exogenous hyperlipidemia rats.
Results: Serum albumin was reduced, lipid increased significantly, LPL activity decreased significantly and the LCAT activity was relatively insufficient in nephrotic rats. Activities of LPL and LCAT increased significantly in AAM treated nephrotic rats. There were no change of activities of LPL and LCAT in exogenous hyperlipidemia rats and AAM showed no effect on the activities of these two enzymes.
Conclusion: The effect of AAM in regulating lipid metabolism might be due to enhancing the clearance of triglyceride and cholesterol-rich lipoprotein by improving the activities of LPL and LCAT.