RESUMO
Nardostachys jatamansi is a medicinally important herb of Indian origin used for centuries in Ayurvedic and Unani systems of medicine for the treatment of various ailments. The aim of the present work is to evaluate the effect of ethanolic extract of Nardostachys jatamansi rhizomes on doxorubicin induced myocardial injury with respect to lipid metabolism in serum and heart of Wistar albino rats. Altered lipid metabolism alters the cardiac function which is mainly due to changes in the property of the cardiac cell membrane. Doxorubicin exhibits cardiotoxicity by inhibition of fatty acid oxidation in the heart. The rats treated with a single dose of doxorubicin (15 mg/kg) intraperitoneally showed an increase in serum and cardiac lipids (cholesterol, triglycerides, free fatty acids and phospholipids), along with a significant rise in serum low density lipoproteins (LDL), very low density lipoproteins (VLDL) and drop in high density lipoproteins (HDL) levels, resulting in alteration of serum and cardiac lipid metabolizing enzymes. Pretreatment with a extract of Nardostachys jatamansi (500 mg/kg) orally for seven days to doxorubicin induced rats showed a significant prevention in the lipid status with the activities of the lipid metabolizing enzymes. Histopathological observations were also in correlation with the biochemical parameters. These findings suggest that the protective and hypolipidemic effect of Nardostachys jatamansi against doxorubicin induced myocardial injury in rats could possibly be mediated through its anti lipid peroxidative properties.