Development and in Vivo Evaluation of an Optimized Polyherbal Nanosuspension for the Management of High-Fat Diet-Induced Metabolic Syndrome in Wistar Rats.

Abstract

High-fat diet (HFD)–induced rat models closely mimic the multifactorial pathophysiology of human metabolic syndrome (MS). In this study, a polyherbal formulation (PHF) was developed from alcoholic extracts of Tinospora cordifolia, Momordica charantia, Trigonella foenum-graecum, Acorus calamus, and Tecomella undulata and evaluated for in vivo therapeutic efficacy in HFD-induced Wistar rats. Three formulations of nanosuspension (PHF-A, PHF-B, and PHF-C) were prepared with varying concentrations of HPMC and Tween 80. Among these, PHF-A (HPMC 0.6%, Tween 80 0.3%) demonstrated optimal stability and performance, with particle size of 117 nm, zeta potential of −0.30 mV, PDI of 0.372, pH 6.0, viscosity 93.87 cP, and excellent redispersibility over 90 days. Acute oral toxicity assessment (2000 mg/kg) confirmed the safety of PHF-A. In HFD-induced Wistar rats, PHF-A (400 mg/kg) produced significant improvements in metabolic parameters, including reductions in body weight, triglycerides, total cholesterol, LDL, SGPT, and SGOT, along with increases in HDL and decreases in antioxidant enzyme levels of SOD, GSH, and CAT.  Collectively, these findings demonstrate that the optimized PHF exerts multi-target therapeutic effects against HFD-induced MS, supporting its potential as a candidate formulation for the management of metabolic syndrome.