Victoria T Apel¹, Mohammed Almaghrabi², Mohammed Majrashi², Kodye L Abbott¹, Manoj Govindarajulu², Sindhu Ramesh², Fada Alghenaim², Rishi Nadar², Tony Thomas², Julia M Salamat¹, Muhammed Majeed³, Kalyanam Nagabhushanam³, Timothy Moore², Muralikrishnan Dhanasekaran², Satyanarayana R Pondugula¹

¹Department of Anatomy, Physiology and Pharmacology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849, USA

²Department of Drug Discovery and Development, Harrison School of Pharmacy, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849, USA

³Sabinsa Corporation, East Windsor, NJ 08520, USA

Elevated triglyceride and cholesterol levels have been associated with metabolic diseases such as metabolic syndrome and cardiovascular disease. Therefore, the management of blood triglyceride levels is imperative to manage the progression and prevention of these metabolic diseases. In this study, we evaluated whether Oroxylum indicum extract (OIE) displays anti-lipidemic effects in streptozotocin (STZ) and chemotherapy-induced hyperlipidemia in rodent models. Male Wistar rats (200-300 g) received single intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin (STZ) injection (55 mg/kg) to induce triglyceride levels. Male C57BL/6J mice (25–35 g) were administered with chemotherapeutics [doxorubicin (2 mg/kg) and cyclophosphamide (50 mg/kg)] intraperitoneally with one injection per week for a total of four weeks to induce triglyceride levels. Both rodent groups treated with chemotherapy and STZ were then fed Oroxylum indicum extract (OIE, Sabroxy®) prepared by Sabinsa Corporation [250 mg/kg OIE low dose (LD) and 500 mg/kg OIE high dose (HD)], mixed with their powdered rodent food and fed daily for four weeks, respectively. The OIE treatment alone group received 500mg/kg of OIE in powdered rodent food. The control rats and mice also received the powdered rodent food for four weeks without OIE. STZ and chemotherapy treatment resulted in a significant increase in blood triglyceride levels.  OIE treatment significantly reduced the blood triglyceride levels elevated by both STZ and chemotherapy. These results are consistent with the conclusion that OIE, when fed at its physiologically relevant dosage, prevents hyperlipidemia induced by STZ and chemotherapy in rodent models.