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Hypercholesterolemia is a major risk factor for the development of cardiovascular disease and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. Natural compounds have been proved to be useful in lowering serum cholesterol to slow down the progression of cardiovascular disease and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. In the present study, the hypocholesterolemic and hepatoprotective effects of the dietary consumption of chlorogenic acid were investigated by monitoring plasma lipid profile (total cholesterol, triglycerides, high-density lipoprotein and low-density lipoprotein) in Sprague-Dawley rats fed with a normal diet, a high-cholesterol diet or a high-cholesterol diet supplemented with chlorogenic acid (1 or 10 mg/kg/day p.o.) for 28 days. Chlorogenic acid markedly altered the increased plasma total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein but decreased high-density lipoprotein induced by a hypercholesterolemic diet with a dose-dependent improvement on both atherogenic index and cardiac risk factor. Lipid depositions in liver were attenuated significantly in hypercholesterolemic animals supplemented with chlorogenic acid. It is postulated that hypocholesterolemic effect is the primary beneficial effect given by chlorogenic acid, which leads to other secondary beneficial effects such as atheroscleroprotective, cardioprotective and hepatoprotective functions. The hypocholesterolemic functions of chlorogenic acid are probably due to the increase in fatty acids unitization in liver via the up-regulation of peroxisome proliferation-activated receptor [alpha] mRNA. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the present work was to investigate and compare the content of phenolic compounds in four taxa of Erigeron acris L. s. l.: E. acris (EAA), E. acris subsp. droebachiensis (O.F. Müll.) Arcang. (EAD), E. acris subsp. serotinus (Weihe) Greuter (EAS) and E. ×huelsenii Vatke (EH), a hybrid between E. acris and E. canadensis L. The total flavonoid content was determined by Christ-Müller method and the total phenolic acid content was determined by the method utilizing Arnov's reagent. The method using ultra high performance liquid chromatography with photodiode array detection (UHPLC-PDA) was applied for the separation, identification and quantification of nine phenolic compounds (protocatechuic acid, chlorogenic acid, caffeic acid, 6′-O-caffeoylerigeroside, scutellarein-7-O-β-D-glucuronide, quercetin 3-O-glucoside, 4,5-dicaffeoylquinic acid, quercetin and luteolin) in the aerial parts of E. acris s. l. The chromatographic separation was carried out using a BEH C18 column packed with 1.7-μm particles and gradient elution with a mobile phase of water and methanol, both containing 0.02% (v/v) trifluoroacetic acid. The four investigated taxa of E. acris s. l. differed in the composition and the content of phenolic compounds. The main substances determined in the methanolic herbal extracts were: scutellarein-7-O-β-D-glucuronide (EAA, EAS, EAD and EH), 6′-O-caffeoylerigeroside (EAA, EAD and EH) and chlorogenic acid (EAS and EH). Moreover, the results indicated that five of the nine tested compounds were found in all investigated extracts from herbs of E. acris s. l. Two of them (6′-O-caffeoylerigeroside and scutellarein-7-O-β-D-glucuronide) could be selected as potential chemotaxonomic markers of the genus Erigeron L. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]