SUMMARY
Atherosclerosis is recognized as “non-infectious pandemic of the XXI-th century”. There is a wide range of drugs for correction of hyperlipidemia, as well as for the primary and secondary prevention of athe-rosclerosis complications. However, all known lipid-lowering drugs have many side effects. Herbal medicines have several advantages over synthetic monodrugs. In particular, due to the complex and balanced chemical composition and the rational combination of biologically active substances they have multifaceted effects on the body: on the one hand, they affect directly on the diseased area, and on the other hand, provide pharmacological correction of various functional systems. In this regard it is interesting to study triterpenoid compounds isolated from the plant material, which have a wide range of pharmacological activities, including the lipid-lowering effect. The aim of this study was to assess the lipid-lowering properties of the ethanol extract from Poterium sanguisorba L. (burnet salad) containing triterpenoid compounds in the underground part of the plant. The ethanol extract of Poterium sanguisorba L. underground part was studied for the hypolipidemic activity in the acute model of hyperlipidemia induced by injecting a single dose of Tween-80 (250 mg/kg) intraperitonially to rats. In 8 h the blood samples were taken, and the level of hyperlipidemia was assessed. Daily white mature Wistar rats were orally treated with the extract in two doses: 100 mg/kg and 250 mg/kg for 7 days, the last injection was together with Tween-80. As a reference drug nicotinic acid (30 mg/kg) was used. At the end of the study the serum levels of the total cholesterol, triglycerides and the total lipids were measured. Determination was performed using enzymatic methods. The results of the study conducted have confirmed the hypolipidemic activity of Poterium sanguisorba L. extract under conditions of acute hyperlipidemia.