Abstract: Objective To investigate the effect of Phillyrin on lipid metabolism disorder and oxidative stress in obese rats. Methods The obese rats were fed with high-fat diet. The rats were randomly divided into 6 groups: the control group, the model group, the phillyrin 5 mg / kg group, the phillyrin 10 mg / kg group, the phillyrin 20 mg / kg group and the metformin group. The weight of rats was measured. A tape measure is used to measure the nose-to-anal length and the Lee’s index was calculated. The blood glucose level was determined by blood glucose meter. The lipid accumulation in rats was assayed by Oil red O staining. The levels of TC, TG, LDL-C and HDL-C were measured by automatic biochemical analyzer. The levels of ALT, AST, ALP, SOD, MDA and GSH-Px were detected by the kit. The protein expression levels of p-Nrf2, Nrf2 and HO-1 were detected by Western blotting. Results Compared with the control group, the Lee’s index, the weight gain and the blood glucose level in the model group were significantly increased, the levels of TC, TG, LDL-C, ALT, AST and ALP were significantly increased, the level of HDL-C was significantly decreased, the SOD and GSH-Px content were significantly decreased, the MDA content was significantly increased. The protein expression levels of p-Nrf2 / Nrf2 and HO-1 were significantly decreased (P< 0. 05). Compared with the model group, the Lee’s index and the blood glucose level in the phillyrin 10 and 20 mg / kg groups and the metformin group were decreased, the degree of weight gain and lipid accumulation were significantly improved in rats, the levels of TC, TG, LDL-C ALT, AST and ALP levels were decreased, the level of HDL-C was increased, the SOD and GSH-Px content were increased, the MDA content was decreased, and the expression levels of p-Nrf2 / Nrf2 and HO-1 were increased (P < 0. 05). Conclusion Phillyrin can relieve the oxidative stress and lipid metabolism disorder in obese rats, which possibly through the activation of Nrf2 / HO-1 pathway.

Key words: obesity, phillyrin, disorder of lipid metabolism, oxidative stress, Nrf2 / HO-1 pathway