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Abstract

High fat diet induces excessive body fat storing by increasing mass of adipose tissue which leads to lipid profile abnormalities. Artichoke is a plant that traditionally used for treatment of various diseases. This research aimed to study the role of supplementing low or high doses of water extract of artichoke leaves in rats fed HFD. In this regard, four rat groups were established as follows: control group, high fat diet group, Low dose artichoke+ HFD group (600 mg /kg b.w/day) after three weeks following obesity induction, and high dose artichoke +HFD group (1500 mg /kg b.w /day). Body weight gain, serum lipid parameters, liver enzymes, antioxidant status, lipoprotein lipase gene expression and histology of adipose tissue and liver were examined. Results showed that HFD increased body weight, lipid parameters and causes abnormal liver enzyme levels along with disturbance of antioxidant status, fat droplets accumulation and enlargement of adipose tissues. These parameters were counteracted by supplementing either low or high dose of artichoke extract, showing the mitigating effect of artichoke against HFD side effects. It was revealed that the hypolipodemic and hepatoprotective effects were more observable in low dose of extract than that of high dose.