Ziziphora clinopodioides Lam. Attenuates AS through Modulation of Lipid Metabolism and Oxidative Stress Pathways: Evidence from Multi-Omics Analyses

This study investigated the therapeutic effects of Ziziphora clinopodioides Lam. (ZCL) on atherosclerosis (AS) through transcriptomic and metabolomic analyses. Using ApoE-/- mice model and CoCl2-induced THP-1 macrophage hypoxia model, the study found that ZCL reduced blood lipid levels, alleviated hypoxia-induced cellular damage via PI3K/Akt/HIF-1 pathway, and regulated fatty acid metabolism and calcium-related pathways. The findings support ZCL as a potential natural therapeutic agent for AS management. A total of 120 mice (20 C57BL/6J and 100 ApoE-/- mice) were used. ApoE-/- mice were fed high-fat diet and randomly assigned to 5 groups (n=20 each): Model group, Atorvastatin group (5 mg/kg/day), Low-Dose group (1.28 g/kg/day ZCL), Medium-Dose group (2.56 g/kg/day ZCL), and High-Dose group (5.12 g/kg/day ZCL). Treatment lasted 15 weeks. RNA-seq analysis was performed on aortic tissue samples.