Abstract: AIM :To continuously observe the protec- tive effects of lycopene on lipid peroxidation injure in hy- perlipemia rabbits and to study the possible mechanisms . MEDHODS :30 New Zealand rabbits were randomly di- vided into three groups .They were individually housed in metal cages .Throughout the experimental period, they were given restricted amounts of food ( 80 -100 g·h-1 per day ) .Control group was fed with normal diet ;Model group was fed with 1 %cholesterol, 10 %lard and 89 % normal diet ;Lycopene group was fed with 1 %cholester- ol, 10 % lard and normal diet plus 6 %lycopene ( 60 mg·kg -1·d-1 ) ;At the time of the first day, the second, 4th, 6th and 8th week, Blood samples were drawn from ear edge vein of rabbits .Total cholesterol ( TC) , Triglyc- eride ( TG ) and High density lipoprotein cholesterol ( HDL-C) , Superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity and Ma- · 162 · Chin J Clin Pharmacol Ther 2006 Feb;11( 2) leic dialdehyde (MDA) content of serum were detected . The level of serum nitric oxide synthases ( NOS) activity and Nitric oxide ( NO) were determined .At the end of the study, the plaque areas were measured .SPSS 10 .0 software was used to evaluate the differences between three groups .RESULTS :Compared with Model group, lycopene could reduce the levels of serum TG and MDA, increase serum SOD activity, increase serum NO, dimin- ish lipid plaque areas significantly .CONCLUSION :Ly- copene has antiatherogenic effect .The possible mecha- nisms may be that lycopene can reduce TG, decrease lipid peroxidation injure and protect vascular endothelium in hyperlipemia rabbits .

Key words: lycopene , atherosclerosis , lipid peroxida- tion injure , lipid level , superoxide dismutase , maleic dial- dehyde, nitric oxide , nitric oxide synthases