Abstract: Objective: To explore the effect of raspberry ketone (RK) on lipid metabolism and inflammatory factors in hyperlipidemic rats. Methods: Forty SD rats (half male and half female) were randomly divided into 5 groups. The rats fed normal food were served as normal control group; the rats fed high-fat diets for 4 weeks were administered with RK at the doses of 20, 10 g/L and 5 g/L to create high, middle and low dose groups. The rats in each group were killed after the administration of RK for 8 week. The body weight, visceral index, and serum lipid parameters such as TC, TG, HDL-C and LDL-C, apolipoprotein including apoA-I and apoB, C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), TNF-α and IL-6 were determined. Results: RK could significantly reduce TC, TG and LDL-C levels in hyperlipidemic rats and increase HDL-C content. Meanwhile, serum apoA-I level revealed a significant elevation while apoB revealed an obvious reduction. Moreover, RK could reduce the ratio between liver and body weight, and significantly reduce serum hs-CRP, TNF-α and IL-6 contents. Conclusion: RK not only has a role in regulating blood lipids but also can modulate low inflammation state in hyperlipidemic rats.

Key words: raspberry ketone, hyperlipidemia, lipids, inflammation, rat