Abstract: Objective: To investigate the intervention effect of Inonotus obliquus polysaccharide (IOP) on liver disease in hyperlipidemic rats by measuring serum lipid content, antioxidant defense indices, liver damage and fatty acid synthase activity. Methods: Forty male Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were randomly divided into normal control, hyperlipidemia model and low-, medium- and high-dose IOP groups. Commercial kits were employed to determine the following blood lipid parameters: total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), high-density lipoprotein (HDL), low-density lipoprotein (LDL); antioxidant indices: superoxide diamutase (SOD), malondialdehyde (MDA) and glutathion peroxide (GSH-Px); liver injury indices: alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST); and fatty acid synthetase (FAS) and human hydroxymethylglutaryl CoA reductase (HMGCR). Results: Compared with the high-fat group, high-dose (200 mg/kg mb) of Inonotus obliquus polysaccharide has a significant effect on reducing blood lipid levels in rats and protecting liver from damage. And the dose group TC, TG, LDL decreased significantly, HDL increased significantly, MDA content decreased, SOD, GSH-Px activity increased, FAS and HMGCR activity decreased significantly. Conclusion: Polysaccharide from Inonotus obliquus can protect against lipid disorders, liver damage in rats with hyperlipidemia caused by high-fat diet, may be related to its antioxidant effect.

Key words: Inonotus obliquus; polysaccharide; hypolipidemic; liver injury; lipid peroxidation