ANTIHYPERLIPIDEMIC ACTIVITY OF SOME MEDICINAL PLANTS - A SHORT REVIEW

Hyperlipidemia is the greatest peril factor of coronary heart disease. Now a day’s synthetic drugs have been related with number of side effects but herbal medicines have lipid lowering and antioxidant activities without any side effects. Some of the medicinal herbal plants used for hyperlipidemia, they are Amaranthus caudatus L. (Thandukeerai), Butea monosperma Lam. (Kincukam, Palasam), Commiphora wightii (Mahisaksiguggalu), Cassia auriculata (Aavarai), Gymnema sylvestre (Cirukurinca), Glycyrrhiza glabra Linn. (Adimaduram) Hibiscus rosa-sinensis Linn. (Sembaruthi), Lagenaria siceraria (Surakkai), Moringa oleifera Lam. (Murungai), Morinda citrifolia L. (Nuna), Pterocarpus marsupium Roxb. (Acamai, Acanapann), Pongamia pinnata (Pungai), Sapindus emarginatus Vahl. (Ponnankottai, Poovanthi), Terminalia arjuna (Roxb.) Wight & Arn. (Maruthampattai) etc. are used as antihyperlipidemic drug as per Unani and Ayurvedic literature. The review article is undertaken to study the herbal plants for antihyperlipidemic activity and various models used in this investigation. This review is particular on the anti- hyperlipidemic activity of the most recognizable herbal plants