Abstract
Aleglitazar is a novel promising drug related to peroxisome proliferaor-activated receptor (PPAR alpha &gamma) agonists that shows antidiabetic and anti-inflammatory characteristics. A study was conducted in order to determine whether aleglitazar has a protective effect against hypercholesterolemia induced in experimental animals. Thirty male mature albino rats weighing 155 +/- 5 g (M +/- SD) was used in this study and distributed into three groups. Two months were given a basal diet to the rats in the first group to serve as a negative control (the experimental period). The second group was fed a basal diet for 45 days and then fed a hyper cholesterolemic diet containing 1.5% cholesterol for 15 days as a positive control group. The third group was fed a basal diet for 45 days and then fed a hypercholesterolemic diet for 15 days with intraperitoneal injections of aleglitazar at a dose equal to 20 mg/kg body weight/day. The obtained results indicated that aleglitazar had a protective effect in hyper cholesterolemic rats. According to the results, aleglitazar at a dose of 150 mu g/kg body weight/day reduced the serum levels of total cholesterol, triglycerides, and total lipids as a protective agent in hypercholesterolemic rats. Aleglitazar is a new promising drug that is used as an anti-hyperlipidemia drug to lower triglycerides (TG) and raise high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL) in plasma.