Impact of total flavone of alfalfa on the lipid metabolism and oxygenderived free radicals in mice

The impact of total flavone of alfalfa (TFA) on the lipid metabolism and oxygenderived free radicals in mice studied. After the mice were drenched with TFA for seven days, the contents of triglyceride (TG), low density lipoprotein (LDL) and high density lipoprotein (HDL) in blood as well as the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and malonaldehyde (MDA) in liver and ren were determined by biochemical methods. In TFA group, the contents of TG and LDL in blood and MDA in tissues were obviously reduced（P＜0.05), but HDLC content was high, and the activities of SOD in tissues were significantly increased（P＜0.05). So it could be concluded that TFA could perform the function of reducing TG and LDL as well as preventing angiosclerosis, and at the same time, it could obviously inhibit the damage from oxygenderived free radicals and prevent lipid peroxidation.