Anti-Atherosclerotic Effects Mediated by the Combination of Probucol and Amygdalin in Apolipoprotein E-Knockout Mice Fed with a High Fat Diet

To ameliorate atherosclerosis progression, researchers studied the combined therapy of amygdalin and probucol, a cholesterol-lowering drug in ApoE knockout mice. About 8 weeks old male ApoE knockout mice were fed on a High Fat Diet (HFD) and received amgydalin treatment alone, probucol treatment alone or combined therapy in the present study. Triglyceride (TG), Total Cholesterol (TC) and Low Density Lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels were measure at the end of treatment. Aortic lesion area, plaque area and plaque coverage percentage of aortic sinus were also quantified. Meanwhile, inflammation related proteins as Matrix Metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2) and Matrix Metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) were analyzed. Studies on blood lipid revealed that combined therapy significantly decreased both total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol levels. Moreover, significantly decreased blood lipids levels were accompanied with reduced plaque areas and plaque coverage percentages indicating the anti-atherosclerotic function of combined therapy is through reduction of cholesterol levels. Furthermore, observations on the mRNA levels and expression of MMP-2 and -9 suggested that combined therapy induces decreased expression of MMP-2 and -9 in aortic lesions. The studies indicated that the combination of amygdalin and probucol was more effective in retarding atherosclerotic lesion progression than the administration of each drug alone.