Danzhi Jiangtang capsule regulates the metabolism of blood lipids in hyperlipidemic rats through JAK2/STAT3 pathway

Abstract Danzhi Jiangtang capsule (DJC), a traditional medicinal formula composed of cortex moutan, heterophylly falsestarwort root, unprocessed rehmannia root, oriental waterplantain rhizome, dodder seed and leech, has been used to treat type 2 diabetes in clinic for almost 10 years. In addition, DJC was also confirmed that it could relieved oxidative stress of vascular endothelium in diabetic macroangiopathy. Based on the fact that the DJC could regulated the level of free fatty acids in diabetes patients and the constituents of DJC also possess potential anti-hyperlipidemic effect, thus, the present work aimed to evaluate the anti-hyperlipidemic effect of DJC and further investigated potential molecular mechanism of this action. As in vivo results revealed, DJC could reduced the levels of TC, TG, LDL, increased HDL level as well as decreased the level of ALT and AST of model rats. In addition, DJC also showed significant antioxidant effect by decreasing the level of MDA and increasing the level of SOD and GSH-Px. Furthermore, western blot analysis showed that DJC could up-regulated the expression of phosphorylated JAK2 and STAT3, and down-regulated the expression of SCOC3 protein, which indicated that DJC could regulate the metabolism of lipid via JAK2/STAT3 pathway.