Objective: Tinospora cordifolia (Willd.) Miers juice (TCJ) is known for its anti-hyperlipidemic properties. This study was aimed to validate the efficacy of TCJ to activate PPARα in vivo in hyperlipidemic (HPL) patients. Materials and Methods: HPL (n=20) and healthy (n=22) volunteers were enrolled in the study. HPL patients were treated with TCJ for 14 days. The fasting urine and blood samples were collected on 0 and 14th day for analysis. The blood samples were used for biochemical analysis. Urine samples were subjected to LC-ESI-QTOFMS for the analysis of PPAR-α markers. Results: Treatment with TCJ depleted cholesterol (TC-24%), triglycerides (TG-28%) and low density lipoprotein (LDL- 14%) levels and increased high density lipoprotein (HDL) (p<0.05) levels in HPL. The QTOFMS data revealed increased urinary excretions of pantothenic acid (5.99 fold), hippuric acid (<15.0 fold), acylcarnitines (<2.0 folds) and branched chain amino acids (BCAA) in HPL patients which significantly depleted (p<0.01) after TCJ treatment. Two new acylcarnitines, L-hexanoylcarnitine and 4-hydroxyisovaleric acid observed in HPL patients were depleted (>2.0 fold) after treatment with TCJ. The other biomarkers of HPL, ursodeoxycholic acid and chenodeoxycholic acid were also depleted (>4.0 fold) after TCJ treatment. Conclusion: The present data clearly depicted the regulatory effects of TCJ on the lipid metabolism. It emphasize that TCJ activates PPAR-α in vivo that decreased the urinary levels of PPARα biomarkers.
Key words: Tinospora cordifolia, Urinary biomarkers, LC-ESI-QTOFMS, PPAR-alpha, Fatty acids ß oxidation, Oxidative stress.