Lipid-lowering Effect of Active Components in Common Chinese Medicine： A Review / 中国实验方剂学杂志

ABSTRACT

Dyslipidemia is a common metabolic disease caused by abnormal lipoprotein metabolism in human body. According to pathogenesis， it is divided into primary dyslipidemia and secondary dyslipidemia. The former is caused by genetic defects， and the latter is caused by diseases， drugs， unhealthy diets， and lifestyle. The clinical manifestations are xanthoma， arteriosclerosis， and other symptoms of coronary heart disease and peripheral vascular disease. Dyslipidemia can cause a variety of diseases， such as cardiovascular disease， diabetes， and cancer， seriously threatening people's quality of life and life safety， so the research on drugs against dyslipidemia is more urgent. In spite of manifest efficacy， chemical antilipemic agents such as lovastatin are accompanied by some adverse reactions， and there is recurrence after drug withdrawal. Compared with chemical drugs， Chinese medicine has the advantages of multi-pathway， multi-target， multi-level regulation of dyslipidemia， with few side effects. Modern medical research has shown that Chinese medicine can affect lipid synthesis， decomposition， and absorption and improve liver lipid and bile acid metabolism by regulating the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor （PPAR） signaling pathway， AMP-activated protein kinase （AMPK） signaling pathway， cyclic adenosine monophosphate （cAMP） signaling pathway， adipocytokine signaling pathway， farnesoid X receptor （FXR）/small heterodimer partner （SHP） signaling pathway， phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase （PI3K）/protein kinase B （Akt） signaling pathway， etc.， thereby exerting a role in lowering lipid. Therefore， this paper summarized the mechanism of effective components in Chinese medicine in lowering blood lipid to provide new ideas and a theoretical basis for the prevention and treatment of lipid metabolic diseases by Chinese medicine in clinical practice.